Highlights of the Speech of Shri Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress President & LoP, Rajya Sabha’s address at the national convention on MGNREGA workers’ at Jawahar Bhawan, New Delhi, January 22, 2026.

Addressing the National MGNREGA Workers’ Convention, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge said, “Our beloved Leader of the Opposition, Shri Rahul Gandhi ji, who is present on the stage, MGNREGA activists and workers who have come here from across the country, workers’ leaders, my friends from the media, Congress Party’s MGNREGA State Coordinators from all the states, and all the colleagues present in this gathering, and our leaders sitting on the stage who have given you some information – they have shared a lot based on their experience, and Rahul Gandhi ji is very happy to see the work you are doing. I thank you all, and I also thank our MGNREGA NGOs for the way they are trying to educate the MGNREGA workers in the villages, as demonstrated here, because this is a very important task – bringing people together today.” I will say a few things from my perspective, and I’m saying them because the points I’ll be making have been raised by our MGNREGA NGO leaders, but I still feel it’s necessary to share these points with you, because our struggle is a long one. This fight isn’t about sitting quietly in one place, or staging a satyagraha and then going home, or simply shouting slogans and then leaving. This is such a big fight that we will continue to fight until they withdraw the new law and restore MGNREGA to its original form.

I have already welcomed all the friends who have come from various parts of the country to the ‘Save MGNREGA Front’, and I welcome you all once again. During the winter session of Parliament, the Modi government abolished MGNREGA and enacted a new law. Even I don’t know the exact name of that law, as Rahul Gandhi Ji just mentioned. What is this new law? We created MGNREGA in the name of Mahatma Gandhi, and what has happened to them that they are so determined to dismantle it? They have attacked the poor and vulnerable sections of rural India, and this is being protested across the country. The budget session will begin soon, and we promise you that we will fight on this issue.

Across the country, the Congress Party is taking this serious issue to the village level as a movement. Abolishing MGNREGA is not only an attack on the weaker sections of society, but it is also a conspiracy by the BJP-RSS to erase Mahatma Gandhi from public memory and an attack on the very idea of Gram Swaraj (village self-governance). Mahatma Gandhi is the Father of the Nation; he deserves the respect and honor of the entire country, transcending Party lines. This is the first time any party has dared to remove his name from a scheme named after the Father of the Nation, and it is the BJP that is doing it.

Those who assassinated Gandhiji are now conspiring to erase his name and legacy during the RSS’ centenary year, something this country will never tolerate, and the people of this nation will never accept.

Friends, on January 19, 2026, the Modi government held a press conference and made many critical remarks about me and Rahul ji. We don’t want to respond to those remarks; that’s their job. When we say something good, they criticize us, and since they never say anything good themselves, they always criticize us. That’s something you should understand. They also said that until the new scheme is implemented, work under MGNREGA will not be available wherever and whenever it’s needed. They claimed that after a transition period of six months, the scheme will be implemented across the entire country.

That is, as Rahul ji just mentioned, the MGNREGA scheme that we implemented is necessary, but they are trying to stop it because they want to further oppress the downtrodden sections of society and turn them into bonded laborers. Just as Indira Gandhi ji introduced the 20-point program to eliminate bonded labor, which included a provision to free bonded laborers, today Modi ji is creating bonded labor again, handing you over to the wealthy, forcing you to work for them for whatever meager wages they offer. They are trying to reintroduce this system or process of slavery here. We will have to fight against this.

They are telling people they will provide 125 days of work. 125 days! We are asking for 100 days of work, and even for those 100 days, they can’t pay the full amount. Previously, we received 100 percent of our wages, and 75 percent of the material costs were covered by the state government. But now they are preparing to end that. They are doing this because if you don’t have money, if they take the money out of your hands, if they take away your wages, you will fall back into slavery, and that’s exactly what they want. So, we have to fight for ourselves. We are not saying this to strengthen any particular party. You vote according to your own judgment, but we are fighting for your rights. Sonia Gandhi Ji, in particular, introduced the Right to Work, Right to Food Security, Right to Education, and Right to Information under Article 41. Why did she bring these in? She brought them for the common people. So, if the public is not ready for this today, we will lose our rights, and tomorrow there will come a day when only those with money, those who pay income tax, those who own land, those with degrees, and those with large industries will have the right to vote. Those who don’t contribute to the country, who only take guarantees and work, will be kept in the same position; that’s their agenda. They will try their best to snatch away your rights.

I want to say that we must try to protect our legal rights. I’ve noticed that many parties don’t even talk about this, and when we raise this issue, when our leader Rahul ji brings it up, no other party speaks with the same force. Everyone is busy talking about their own issues in different states. But this is the main issue! This is about feeding millions of people, it’s about their children, their children’s education, and their very survival. If we don’t think about this, we will face serious difficulties.

I sometimes remember when my father worked in a textile mill. We were doing alright then, because I was the only son, so there weren’t many difficulties, since he received his salary from the mill every first of the month. But later, my father remarried, and he sent his new wife to work too. I said, “This is too much!” (My father said) “No, no, everyone has to work, everyone has to contribute.” Where did he send her? To a brick kiln, a brick factory. He sent her there to work. I told him many times, “Why are you sending her there? Everything is fine, isn’t it?” “No, no,” he said, “everyone has to work. If everyone works, then you can all continue your studies.”

I observed that the work provided under MGNREGA, which is currently being offered with dignity, is something we are now reducing. But there was a time when people from our community—Dalits, backward classes, and extremely backward classes—would go to others, begging for work to feed themselves, saying, “Give us work,” (demonstrating the gesture of pleading with folded hands).

So, this is the time to protect our rights. Therefore, I promise you that we, Rahul ji, and all the members of our Party will continue to fight. And it was a good thing that Shri Dixit called this meeting so quickly, giving us the opportunity to meet you. So, we all need to pay attention to this and move forward.

I want to tell you one more thing: through Aadhaar and digital attendance, and by manipulating payments, lakhs of laborers have been removed from the list. They are finding every possible way to do this. Just as they are working on the SIR to defeat political parties, to eliminate us, to destroy our ideology, on one hand, they are also working to ensure that MGNREGA workers don’t receive their wages and that their names are removed from the list. In 11 years, the Modi government is gradually but surely dismantling the world’s largest employment guarantee scheme.

I want to bring one thing to your attention. When Smt. Sonia Gandhi appointed me as the Labour Minister in 2009, I used to attend the ILO conferences, as you may know. The International Labour Organization is a very large global organization. When I attended those conferences, everyone would talk about the labor situation and labor welfare in their respective countries. Sometimes the discussions would be about the environment, sometimes about minimum wages for workers, and various other topics would come up. So I went to America, Japan, China, and 18 other countries, and in all 18 countries, I told them that we have the Right to Work, which provides employment to the poor, and it’s mandatory to provide 100 days of work per year. If someone fails to provide work, the Deputy Commissioner can be prosecuted, right? Yes, that’s right. Many people were surprised after I said this. Then the Prime Minister of Brazil asked, “Is that really the case?” “Yes, it is,” (Shri Mallikarjun Kharge replied to the Brazilian Prime Minister).

After that, everywhere I went—South Africa, where the event was held in Cape Town, Japan, then China, then Germany, Italy—everywhere I went, they said that the Food Security Act, your MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), and the Compulsory Education Act were such monumental achievements for the country, and they were astonished. They said it was impossible. How do you provide work for so many people? How do you feed so many people? How do you educate so many people? We, the people of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance), showed that it could be done, but today the BJP is undermining it, suppressing it, and trying to abolish it. That’s why we all have to fight for it.

When the world acknowledges something is good, Modi doesn’t agree. Because what does Modi know? He’s surrounded by wealthy people. He doesn’t know what poverty is, he doesn’t know what food security is! Because he just orders everything, right? He places an order over the phone, gets it delivered, and eats it. But our people work under the MGNREGA scheme, sitting in front of a stove, blowing on the fire with a pipe, burning wood, and getting smoke in their eyes. They know what hardship is, and they know the necessity of MGNREGA, the necessity of food security, and the necessity of educating their children. That’s the reality!

That was a government for the poor. That was the government of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, but this is a government of two people. Do you know who these two people are? One is Modi and the other is Shah. So, these are the people. They don’t know anything. They only know how to destroy things and keep campaigning for elections. Do some work for the country! Tell me, what great work have they done? Like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who brought in so many big projects, arranged for water supply, built big dams – all of that was done. What are you doing? Bullet train, bullet train! Your bullet train hasn’t even arrived, it’s not even there.

‘Vande Bharat’! Weren’t there trains before? Didn’t people travel? You’re running these trains on our existing tracks. You haven’t laid any new tracks; you’re just using the same old tracks for ‘Vande Bharat’, this ‘Vande Bharat’, that ‘Vande Bharat’. Just provide facilities for people to travel. “I introduced a speed train. I introduced that train.” We did it too, brother, we laid tracks and built infrastructure all over the country, and you’re only doing it in one or two places... And who goes there? The Prime Minister goes everywhere to flag off the trains. Manmohan Singh Ji or Sonia Gandhi Ji never went anywhere... maybe to one or two very important places where it was absolutely necessary. He even inaugurates train stations and railway lines. You should work as a laborer for four days, do some MGNREGA work, then you’ll understand. Oh, they always say, to get people’s votes, “I’m a tea seller.” Have you ever made tea? Have you ever gone around with a kettle, serving tea to everyone? They’re just talking, trying to get votes from people with empty promises. I would say all this is just their drama; they have a habit of suppressing the poor, and they’re only providing 44 days of work in 100 days. They were supposed to give 100 days of work, but they’re only giving 44, and yet they make grand promises – “We will give 125 days of work.”

So, brothers, I don’t want to say much more, because we are fighting for MGNREGA, and that’s why Sonia Gandhi ji said in Parliament that 150 days of work should be provided under MGNREGA. But instead, they have reduced the work under MGNREGA to just two months; people can’t get any work for two months. Why not? Because they want to keep these people in this condition. They had promised 150 days of work and a minimum wage of 400 rupees... we were fighting for that. But the opposite is happening; they are reducing it, cutting it down. These people aren’t even coming every 30-40 days, they’re not showing up at all, they’re not getting minimum wages, and their wages aren’t being adjusted according to the price index. Therefore, this Modi government is only focused on weakening the people, and I strongly oppose this. Mahatma Gandhi Ji wanted to bring about Gram Swaraj (village self-rule). But now, whatever comes out of the RSS headquarters, whatever Modi ji says, that’s what will happen in every panchayat. Why? Because the goal is to weaken the political parties and weaken the people themselves.

Because they will say, “This village didn’t vote for us... don’t give them anything.” So, there are no poor people there, the poor should just die. We did this... we didn’t consider any particular party. We didn’t give any sanctions. We did the work, but these people are now causing a lot of trouble and trying to destroy people’s lives. That’s why, as Rahul Gandhi said, just as the farmers fought to repeal the three farm laws, the three black laws of agriculture, the MGNREGA workers will also have to do the same, they will have to fight.

Secondly, I would say that you don’t get anything unless you fight for it. Even in your own home, if a child cries, and you don’t feed him, he won’t stop crying. This is about your rights and it’s also beneficial for your future generations. So, brothers and sisters, I will repeatedly urge you – we will continue to fight to prevent the implementation of a new law and to ensure that our existing law, the MGNREGA law, remains in place and is not repealed. We are with you in this fight, Rahul ji is with you, Sonia ji is with you, my entire Party is with you. So don’t be afraid, we will keep fighting and we will win this fight.

But don’t get discouraged, anyone... it happens, there’s trouble for a day or two. I was a trade union leader, and my father also worked at the MSK mill. I formed an independent labor union when I was 24 or 25 years old... After forming it, the workers trusted me so much that whatever I said, they would agree, 60-70 percent of them... there was also a CPM union, so I had conflicts with them, but they still elected me.

After the selection, it was just for one rupee... an increase of one rupee per month... so a strike was launched for that one-rupee increase. We agreed, saying, “Okay, let’s see about the one rupee later,” but the CPI(M) members, including the MLA, Gangadhar Namjoshi, didn’t agree, and the fight continued. Then my people came and asked, “What should we do now?” We said, “Okay, they’re asking for one rupee, let’s ask for two.” But what happened when we asked for two rupees? The laborers didn’t go to work for a year and a half... Imagine, a year and a half! Why? Because they had faith in their leaders, and they kept fighting to achieve what they wanted.

I’m giving this example because if people become determined, if you all fight together against their attempts to abolish MGNREGA, then the new law will not be implemented. Stay strong for this, and keep fighting together everywhere. Our Shri Dixit has taken the lead on this, so naturally... everyone, including all of you, and many educated people and NGOs present here, I conclude my few words with this request to all of you.

Jai Hind - (The people present repeated - Jai Hind), Jai Hind - (The people present repeated again - Jai Hind). Our rights - (The assembled crowd completed the slogan, saying - We will get them!), Our rights (The assembled crowd completed the slogan once again, saying - We will get them!).

Inquilab! - (The assembled crowd completed the slogan, saying –Zindabad!), Inquilab! (The assembled crowd completed the slogan once again, saying - Zindabad!), Inquilab! (The assembled crowd completed the slogan one more time, saying - Zindabad!). Jai Congress! Jai Hind!