Reports on CM Naidu’s VB-GRAMG Act concerns significant: Siddaramaiah

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has said reports of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu flagging concerns about the VB-GRAMG Act’s funding pattern are politically significant and carry major implications for Centre–state relations.

Siddaramaiah noted that Naidu’s reservations carry weight because they come from a key BJP ally whose numbers are critical to the Narendra Modi government.

Sharing a news report titled 'Naidu seeks assistance to state for enforcing new rural jobs law' on his official X handle, Siddaramaiah reiterated that the VB-GRAMG Act should be scrapped and the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) reinstated, albeit with necessary reforms.

“The reports that the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh N. Chandrababu Naidu has raised concerns with the Union Government over the implementation of the VB-GRAMG Act — especially regarding the altered funding pattern and the additional burden on states — are politically significant and consequential for Centre–state relations,” he wrote on Friday.

According to Siddaramaiah, the Congress and other Opposition-ruled states, including Karnataka, have for months cautioned that the VB-GRAMG Act undermines cooperative federalism by shifting financial responsibility onto the states. As of now, the Congress is running a 45-day nationwide 'save MGNREGA' campaign.

“A BJP ally now echoing these concerns exposes a clear rupture within the NDA and undermines the BJP’s defence of the law,” he said.

Siddaramaiah demanded that the BJP and the Union government explain why objections raised earlier were dismissed as partisan criticism, insisting that the contrast between the two laws is unambiguous.

He pointed out that under the MGNREGA, rural employment functioned as a legal right backed by assured central funding. “Under the new Act, that certainty is lost. States are required to implement the programme while sharing the cost, without any statutory guarantee of funds. What was once a guaranteed right of the people has been reduced to a matter of negotiation,” the Karnataka CM alleged.

He added that this shift has serious consequences, arguing that when a chief minister is forced to seek “alternative financial support” through private discussions, it suggests that access to funds is now determined by bargaining power rather than by law.

“In the present political context, this raises the risk that allocations may be influenced by political alignment, adversely affecting Opposition-ruled states, including Karnataka,” he said.

Siddaramaiah said that if NDA partners such as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh find the new framework unsustainable, those concerns must be aired in Parliament, not handled through back-channel deals or selective concessions.

“The developments reported today make it clear that the VB-GRAMG Act must be repealed and the MGNREGA restored, with necessary reforms. Employment security cannot be converted into a negotiable arrangement. Cooperative federalism must be sustained through guaranteed funding and equal treatment of all states — not through uncertainty and coalition arithmetic,” he added.

With PTI inputs