Varanasi: Police resorts to lathi-charge on 'MGNREGA Bachao' protesters

The Congress on Sunday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of ordering a 'brutal lathi-charge' on student protesters in Varanasi who were participating in a peaceful march as part of the party’s nationwide campaign against the repeal of the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act).

Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said police used force against NSUI (National Students’ Union of India) activists during a demonstration in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency.

Sharing a video clip on social media platform X, Ramesh alleged that the protesters were exercising their democratic right to dissent when the police intervened.

“In Varanasi, students led by NSUI national president Varun Chaudhary held a peaceful ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ march. It was a constitutional and democratic protest, but the Yogi-Modi government ordered the police to use force against them,” he said.

The NSUI is the student wing of the Congress.

Campaign against repeal of MGNREGA

The Congress has launched a 45-day nationwide agitation titled ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ to oppose the repeal of the UPA-era rural employment law and its replacement by the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, also known as VB-G RAM G.

The party says the new law undermines the rights-based framework of MGNREGA and weakens the role of panchayats in rural employment planning.

As part of the campaign, the Congress held press conferences at district headquarters across the country on Saturday to highlight what it called the “undemocratic manner” in which MGNREGA was repealed during the Winter Session of Parliament.

On Sunday, party workers observed a day-long fast and staged symbolic protests at district offices.

Protest calendar

According to the Congress, the agitation will continue in multiple phases till February 25:

• From 12 to 29 January, chaupals and mass contact programmes will be organised in gram panchayats.

• On 30 January, ward-level peaceful sit-ins will be held to press for the right to work.

• Between 7 and 15 February, state-level gheraos of Vidhan Sabhas are planned.

• The campaign will culminate in four major rallies between 16 and 25 February.

The party has said that unlike the agitation against the now-repealed farm laws, which was centred in Delhi, the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram will focus on mobilisation at the panchayat, block, district and state levels.

Political attack on UP government

The Congress described the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh as a “trouble-engine” administration, alleging that it was unwilling to tolerate questioning on the issue of rural employment.

Party leaders said the police action in Varanasi reflected what they called the state government’s growing intolerance towards peaceful protest.

The Congress is demanding the complete withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act and restoration of MGNREGA as a rights-based law guaranteeing employment, along with the reinstatement of the authority of local self-government institutions in planning and implementation.

Background to the law

The Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act was passed by Parliament on 18 December 2025 through a voice vote in the Rajya Sabha amid opposition protests, hours after being cleared by the Lok Sabha.

President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill on 21 December 2025, making it law.

The Act guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household every financial year, but the Congress has argued that the new framework shifts financial and administrative burdens to states and dilutes the legal entitlement that existed under MGNREGA.

The Uttar Pradesh government has not yet issued a formal response to the Congress’s allegation of police excesses during the Varanasi protest.