Erase Gandhi’s Name, You Erase India’s Conscience: Congress at MG Road Protest

Congres Turns MG Road Protest into Battle for Gandhi’s Legacy and the Rights of the Poor

Secunderabad:
What unfolded at the Gandhi Statue on Saturday was not merely a political protest but a statement of national conscience. The Indian National Congress staged a strong and symbolic agitation opposing the Union Government’s move to alter and rename the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), warning that tampering with the scheme amounts to an assault on the poor and on Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy.

The protest on MG Road, Secunderabad, was led by Tpcc President Mahesh Kumar Goud

Congress President,  (TPCC), as part of a statewide agitation called by the All India Congress Committee (AICC).

Addressing the gathering, Congress leaders asserted that MGNREGA is not a government favour but a legally guaranteed right, secured after decades of struggle, and a lifeline for crores of rural families. Any attempt to replace it with the proposed VB-G Ram G model, they said, is anti-worker, anti-rural poor, and against the spirit of social justice.

Gandhi’s Name, India’s Moral Compass

Leaders said the selection of the Gandhi Statue as the venue was deliberate and symbolic. Mahatma Gandhi’s ideals of dignity of labour, rural self-reliance, and social justice, they noted, form the foundation of MGNREGA. Removing his name from the scheme, they argued, is not reform but moral regression.

Kota Neelima’s Statement

Senior Congress leader Kota Neelima, AICC Member, TPCC Vice President,In-charge Legal Cell In-charg and Indira Fellowship , said MGNREGA is a true “Garib scheme”, meant exclusively for the poorest sections of society. She termed it completely intolerable that attempts are being made to tamper with the scheme and erase Mahatma Gandhi’s name.

She also criticised the silence of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and questioned the absence of a response from Talasani Srinivas Yadav, asking what such silence signals to the poor who depend on MGNREGA for survival.

Leadership Presence

The protest witnessed the participation of senior Congress leaders including Gaddam Vivek Venkat Swamy, Vatika Srihari, Sridhar Babu, Shree Ganesh, Navin Yadav, V. Hanumantha Rao, Adam Santosh, and Sujatha.

Also present were Mohammad Azharuddin, Working President, , and Vijay Reddy, Senior Congress Leaders, who extended strong support to the agitation.

Leaders with organisational and constitutional responsibilities, including the Chairman, State SC Commission, senior Congress leader Rohan Reddy

, and District Congress Committee (DCC) leaders Deepak John and Mutta Rohit, were also present.

AIPC Leadership & Nationwide Call

Representing the All India Professional Congress, Aditya Reddy, State President, AIPC Telangana, said the Congress would launch nationwide protests along the path of Ahimsa, warning that any attempt to dilute or rename MGNREGA will not be tolerated.

Adding an international perspective, Shashank Pasupuleti, AIPC Head of MSME, Telangana, and TPCC Legal Cell Coordinator, said Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy is globally revered, noting that leaders like Barack Obama have praised Gandhi and that over 80 countries have officially named streets and public spaces after him.

Irfan Aziz, Senior Congress Leader & AIPC Member, said that MGNREGA represents the constitutional promise of dignity to the poor, and any attempt to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s name is an attack on India’s social justice framework.

Bagannagari Bharath Reddy, Architectural Head, AIPC Telangana,

said development cannot come by dismantling welfare foundations, and warned that removing Gandhi’s name reflects a dangerous disconnect from grassroots realities.

Karthik Reddy, Senior Member, AIPC Telangana, stated that MGNREGA is a lifeline for rural India, and altering it without public mandate amounts to undermining democratic accountability.

Sandeep Bhushan, Civil Society Head, AIPC Telangana, said the move threatens social equity, adding that civil society will firmly stand against any dilution of rights-based welfare schemes.

Abdula Bakaran, MSME deputy Head, AIPC Telangana, said weakening MGNREGA will directly hurt rural micro-entrepreneurs and labour-linked livelihoods, calling it economically and morally unjustifiable.

Jagan Mohan, Legal Cell,  Tpcc, warned that renaming or restructuring MGNREGA raises serious constitutional concerns and said the Congress is prepared to challenge any such move legally.

The Message

The protest concluded with a clear warning that silence on the dilution of MGNREGA is not neutrality but complicity. Congress leaders pledged to continue the fight on the streets and in Parliament.

As slogans echoed beneath Gandhi’s statue, the message was unmistakable: MGNREGA is about survival, dignity, and rights—and Mahatma Gandhi’s name on it is non-negotiable.