Congress protests in Bengal over renaming of MGNREGA; State Congress chief courts arrest

West Bengal Congress leaders and workers in Kolkata held a protest against the renaming of MGNREGA on Wednesday (December 24, 2025) and marched to Raj Bhavan where many courted arrests, including State Congress president Shubhankar Sarkar.

Over 38 Congress leaders and workers were arrested during the protests as many scuffled with the Kolkata Police. They were not allowed to reach the Governor’s residence and were not able to meet with the governor to voice their concerns.

“The scheme has been stopped in West Bengal for over three years. We want to know why the common people in rural Bengal will not get work due to the failures of the State and Central government.” Mr. Sarkar said during the protests. They also demanded that State government call for an all-party meeting in the State and take up the matter in Delhi to release funds for West Bengal which has been suspended since 2022.  

“We strongly condemn the Modi government’s decision to remove Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the 100 Days’ Work (MGNREGA) programme and rename it as “VB-G Ram G”. By misusing Lord Ram’s name, Narendra Modi is tarnishing the revered image of Ram,” an official statement from the Congress State Committee said.

Congress leaders said that removing Gandhiji’s name from the 100-day work scheme is an insult to the Father of the Nation and also an insult to his vision for the upliftment of rural India and its people.

They also alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been systematically trying to dismantle this scheme since they came to power in 2014. Notably, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted in 2005 by the Congress-led Manmohan Singh government.

The Trinamool Congress government and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on multiple occasions have already condemned the removal of Gandhiji’s name from the scheme. In retaliation, Ms. Banerjee’s government decided to rename their State’s job guarantee scheme as ‘Mahatma Shree’ to honour Mahatma Gandhi.