Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.
A resolution tabled by the Karnataka government in the legislature, opposing the repeal of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, and replacing it with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act, 2025, was passed on Wednesday, even as the BJP and the JD(S) members staged a walkout in both the Assembly and the Council.
The resolution will be sent to the President and the Government of India, sources said. The legislature session was then adjourned sine die.
BJP protests
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tabled the resolution on Tuesday, with two days dedicated for its debate. However, the BJP and the JD(S) members launched an overnight dharna demanding the resignation of the Excise Minister over corruption allegations on Tuesday and continued it during the legislature session on Wednesday.
Amid non-stop sloganeering, the Speaker allowed a debate on the resolution. Before it was put to vote, Leader of Opposition R. Ashok opposed the resolution and the Opposition members staged a walkout.
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said that despite having ample opportunities to discuss the VB-G RAM G Act, 2025, and defend it, the Opposition had failed to do so, even as the Chief Minister sought a vote on the resolution. It was passed with a voice vote.
‘Economic terrorism’
Earlier in the day, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge responded to the debate and argued that the new law was “anti-federal” for increasing the expenditure of the State governments without consultation, which he termed “economic terrorism”. He pointed out that even NDA allies like Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had expressed concern over increasing the State’s share from 10% to 40%.
Responding to claims that under the new law, job seekers will get work for 125 days a year, instead of 100, he said the Budget allocation for the scheme was not in tune to the claim. “To give 125 days of work to all those registered at a minimum wage of ₹375, we need ₹3.83 lakh crore, of which 60% was ₹2.3 lakh crore. But the Union Budget had only earmarked ₹95,000 crore this year.”
Mr. Kharge termed the new law “anti-constitutional”, as it centralises work in violation of the 73rd amendment to the Constitution. He said the Central government deciding what works will be taken up at the gram panchayat level was impractical. He also said the new scheme moves away from demand-based allocation of work to bringing it “within an economic framework”. It allows for contractors to enter the scheme and pushes employment seekers to work under them, which was not the case earlier, he said.
Yatnal in defence
It was senior member Basanagouda R. Patil Yatnal, suspended from the BJP, who defended the VB-G Ram G Act, 2025, in the House on Wednesday. He said NREGS was not removed as claimed by the Congress, but was only reformed to plug several loopholes, including corruption and non availability of labourers during harvest season. He demanded that the Union government increase its share to 75%, from the current 60% under the new law. Senior Congress member B.R. Patil said while there was always scope for reform and improvement in the scheme, repealing NREGS amounted to “cutting the nose to treat a cold.”
Leader of Opposition R. Ashok, speaking to reporters outside, said that the Congress government was hesitating to provide its 40% share owing to a lack of funds. He claimed that extensive discussions were held with all State governments and the Congress which did not oppose it then was doing so now for political reasons.
“To curb excessive corruption, the Union government has adopted modern technologies. Irregularities can be prevented through GPS and Artificial Intelligence. Biometric attendance has been made mandatory, making it easier to detect absentees. Opportunities have been provided to hold meetings in Gram Panchayats every week to discuss works, allowing proper identification of necessary and unnecessary works,” he said.
Published – February 04, 2026 09:27 pm IST
