Monday marked a stormy start to Gujarat’s budget session as Congress orchestrated a thunderous ‘Jan Aakrosh Sabha’ in Gandhinagar, vehemently opposing the Centre’s bid to overhaul MGNREGA with the Viksit Bharat – Rozgar and Aajeevika Mission (Gramin) legislation.
Organized meticulously by the state Congress unit, the gathering swelled with top brass, lawmakers, parliamentarians, farmers’ delegations, Adivasi voices, frontline health workers, and civil society reps. It was less a protest, more a clarion call against perceived assaults on rural livelihoods.
AICC heavyweight Mukul Wasnik dominated proceedings, laying bare a litany of failures: anguished farmers, beleaguered women, impoverished and unemployed youth, corruption soaring unchecked. ‘Patel and Modi’s administrations are in deep slumber amid this crisis,’ he asserted.
Turning to macroeconomics, Wasnik lambasted policies that allegedly chained India to US whims. He spotlighted a tariff imbalance—18% from Washington, nothing from New Delhi—undermining Atmanirbhar claims. Agitation, he warned, would persist till Gujarat sees political upheaval.
Amit Chavda, the state president, boasted of exhaustive outreach: 5,000 km treks through Saurashtra, northern, and central districts. Youth, he said, suffer vendettas involving drugs, booze, caste certificates; MGNREGA bleeds from commission rackets.
CLP’s Tushar Chaudhary traced corruption’s tentacles from village panchayats to Parliament, accusing forest officials of tribal labor exploitation. Mahesh Vasava reminisced enduring fights for water, forests, land. Geniben Thakor and Anant Patel bewailed tribal region neglect.
Protests will shadow the entire session, Congress affirmed, gearing up for 2027 battles with Rahul Gandhi eyed for rallies. In Gujarat’s high-stakes arena, this rally reasserts Congress’s fight for the forgotten.