The Tripura Pradesh Congress on Sunday staged silent protests across the state, demanding the restoration of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA) and the scrapping of the newly introduced VB Gram G Act. The party alleged that the new law undermines people’s basic rights and imposes an additional financial burden on the state.

A central protest was held beneath the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Circuit House in Agartala. Addressing the gathering, Tripura Congress Committee President Asish Kumar Saha said similar demonstrations were organised in all nine organisational districts of the party in the state.

Saha stated that MNREGA was enacted to guarantee 100 days of employment and safeguard the right to work for rural people. He alleged that the present government has effectively dismantled MNREGA by introducing the VB Gram G Act, claiming it removes Mahatma Gandhi’s name and legacy from a flagship welfare programme.

“The government has erased the name of the Father of the Nation from a scheme that symbolised employment rights. This is a conspiracy by the BJP and RSS to undermine Gandhi’s ideals,” Saha said.

Former minister and Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman, who also participated in the protest, said the Congress is holding sit-in demonstrations across the country demanding the reinstatement of MNREGA.

He alleged that the VB Gram G Act aims to dilute the right to work and wages by making employment selective rather than universal. “Under the new act, work will not be guaranteed to all. It will be limited to specific areas or villages, creating uncertainty among the people and adding financial pressure on the state government,” Roy Barman said.

Terming the move a direct attack on the basic rights of citizens, Congress leaders reiterated their demand for the repeal of the VB Gram G Act and the reintroduction of MNREGA, asserting that the issue also concerns the legacy and values associated with Mahatma Gandhi.