Sonia to address first election rally in almost two years
New Delhi, May 7: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi will address her first election rally in almost two years in Karnataka on Tuesday, a party statement said.
According to the statement, Sonia Gandhi will address a public meeting at BLD new campus ground in Bijapur, ahead of the May 12 assembly elections.
Gandhi did not campaign in any of the state elections after she fell ill during a road show in Varanasi on August 2, 2016.
She had skipped campaigning in Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland assembly elections.
As Sonia Gandhi will campaign in Bijapur in north Karnataka, her son and Congress President Rahul Gandhi will campaign in south Karnataka, during his ninth visit to the state from May 7 to May 10. On Tuesday, he will visit Chikkaballapur and Tumkur districts.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Cong's countrywide protest on Wednesday against VB-G RAM-G bill replacing MGNREGA
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress will hold protests across the country on Wednesday against the Centre's rural employment bill VB-G RAM G that seeks to replace MGNREGA, claiming it was a "BJP-RSS conspiracy" to dismantle a rights-based welfare scheme and attack Mahatma Gandhi's legacy, workers' rights and federal responsibility.
The opposition party's general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, in a letter to all state Congress presidents, urged them to organise protests at all district headquarters.
These protests must be held with portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, symbolising resistance to the erasure of his name and values, and highlight how the proposed law will impact the crores of beneficiaries of MGNREGA, he said in the letter.
"The combined attack on Gandhiji's legacy, workers' rights and federal responsibility exposes a larger BJP-RSS conspiracy to dismantle rights-based welfare and replace it with charity controlled from the Centre," Venugopal said.
The opposition has strongly objected to the introduction of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, when it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday.
ALSO READ: National Herald Case: Delhi court refuses to take cognisance of ED chargesheet against Gandhis
The Congress and other opposition MPs also staged a protest in Parliament House complex over the Centre's move.
In the letter to the Congress state unit chief, Venugopal said that on December 28, the party's Foundation Day, programmes should be organised at all blocks and villages, with Mahatma Gandhi's portraits, reaffirming the party's commitment to the dignity of labour, social justice and the right to work.
"This is both a political and moral struggle. The Congress must lead from the front to defend MGNREGA, Gandhiji's legacy and the constitutional promise of justice for the poorest," Venugopal said in a post on X.
In his letter, he said the BJP government has taken an alarming and deliberate step by introducing a bill to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
"This is not a routine legislative exercise. It is a calculated political move to weaken a historical, rights-based people's law and to erase Mahatma Gandhi's name and values from India's most recognisable welfare legislation.
"This combined attack on Gandhiji's legacy, rights and federal responsibility exposes a larger BJP-RSS conspiracy to dismantle rights-based welfare and replace it with charity controlled from the Centre," he noted.
