Congress mocks PM over ‘acronym-itis’ after G RAM G Bill replaces MGNREGA

A day after Parliament cleared the VB-G RAM G Bill, which seeks to replace the two-decade-old MGNREGA, the Congress on Friday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of suffering from what it termed “acute acronym-itis.”

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took to X to amplify the party’s criticism, sharing a cartoon lampooning the government’s fondness for elaborate acronyms. The cartoon read: “All new A.C.R.O.N.Y.M Mantralaya – Administrative Commission for Renaming Old Schemes — New Yet Meaningless.”

“The PM is suffering from a case of acute acronym-itis,” Ramesh quipped in his post, a dig that came a day after Parliament passed two bills bearing catchy abbreviations—the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill and the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill.

The VB-G RAM G Bill was pushed through the Rajya Sabha by voice vote, hours after it was cleared by the Lok Sabha on Thursday, amid fierce opposition protests. Opposition parties objected strongly to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the rural employment guarantee programme and accused the Centre of shifting the financial burden onto states.

The passage of the Bill triggered chaos in the Upper House, with several opposition members staging a walkout, raising slogans against the government, and even tearing copies of the legislation. Rajya Sabha chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan was compelled to warn members against approaching the treasury benches.

Later in the night, opposition MPs escalated their protest by sitting on an overnight dharna outside Samvidhan Sadan in the Parliament complex, underscoring their resistance to what they called a dilution of a landmark welfare scheme under the guise of rebranding.

With PTI inputs