Delhi [India], December 18 : Congress MP Sukhdeo Bhagat on Wednesday launched a sharp attack on the Centre over the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Bill, calling it an "insult to the Father of the Nation" and saying that the Modi government was driven by frustration over its lack of contribution to India's freedom movement.
Speaking to ANI, Bhagat said, "This is an insult to the Father of the Nation. This Modi government is frustrated because their role in the freedom movement was zero, which gives them a complex. They have the name of Ram on their lips, but their thoughts are those of Nathuram."
Meanwhile, the Lok Sabha on Wednesday saw a nearly 14-hour debate over the VB-G Ram G Bill, with the Opposition demanding that the proposed legislation be referred to the Standing Committee, even as the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strongly defended the Bill, terming it a decisive step towards achieving a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Several Congress MPs strongly objected to the renaming of MNREGA and changes in the funding pattern.
Opposing the Bill, the Congress announced a series of nationwide protests on December 17, accusing the BJP and RSS of attempting to "dismantle rights-based welfare" and replace it with charity controlled from the Centre. The party has directed its state units (Pradesh Congress Committees) to organise protests at all district headquarters. The demonstrations featured portraits of Mahatma Gandhi to symbolise resistance against the "erasure of his name and values".
The Bill introduced by the Agriculture Minister in the Lok Sabha guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household, up from the existing 100 days, for adult members willing to undertake unskilled manual work.
As per Section 22 of the Bill, the fund-sharing pattern between the Central Government and the State Governments will be 60:40, while for the North Eastern States, Himalayan States, and Union Territories (Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir), it will be 90:10.
Section 6 of the Bill allows the State governments to notify in advance, a period aggregating to sixty days in a financial year, covering the peak agricultural seasons of sowing and harvesting, when no work will be commenced or executed under the Bill.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Sukhdeo Bhagat also reacted to the deportation of the Luthra brothers from Thailand, saying lapses on the part of the government that allowed them to leave the country in the first place.
"There were shortcomings on the part of the government, which is why these brothers were able to leave India," Bhagat said.
A Goa court on Wednesday granted 5-day police custody of Luthra brothers - Saurabh and Gaurav, co-owners of 'Birch by Romeo Lane' nightclub - where 25 people died, and several others were injured in a fire on December 6.
Goa Police presented the accused before the Mapusa Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court after they were arrested from Delhi airport on Tuesday, after being deported from Thailand, where they fled after the blaze. The Luthra brothers underwent medical examinations before being produced in the court.
A Delhi court on Tuesday granted the Goa Police a 48-hour transit remand of the accused after they landed at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport in New Delhi.