Saatheesan flays move to rename MGNREGS

The Centre’s move to remove the name of Mahatma Gandhi from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is an indication of the depth of intolerance and fear that haunts Sangh Parivar, according to the Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan.

In a statement here on Tuesday, Mr. Satheesan said that Gandhian values are the soul of the nation and that Sangh Parivar, which propagates only hatred, antagonism and the politics of division will never understand the politics of love put forth by Gandhiji or the immensity of the values that he abided by. The murderers of the Father of the Nation fear the name of Gandhiji and his memory.

The BJP has, several times in the past, tried to rename schemes that bore the names of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi or Rajiv Gandhi. This is part of a larger effort by the Sangh Parivar to erase the legacies of those who have been part of the nation’s freedom struggle and history and to claim the nation for themselves, Mr. Satheesan said .

Time and again, the BJP has renamed schemes that bore the names of Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and repeatedly attempted to demean their legacy. This is part of a larger effort by the Sangh Parivar—whose lineage is rooted in betrayal of the freedom struggle—to claim exclusive ownership of the nation. The BJP government must remember that India belongs to the Congress and its leaders as much as to anyone else.

MNREGS was a revolutionary scheme, a flagship project of the UPA Government, which gave livelihood to crores of families and saved them from poverty and hunger. It was a scheme that helped empower and uplift rural women and made them self reliant. The Modi Government is just trying to claim this programme as their own, he said. He added that the nation will unite to rise and revolt against this move of the Centre .