Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ridiculing the UPA's Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which he said turned out to be the saviour for the BJP-led central government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"When Narendra Modi became PM, he ridiculed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act saying it was an insult to Indians but the same man was forced during Covid to increase money given under MGNREGA and accepted that it played as a saviour," Gandhi said during his visit to Wayanad district of Kerala.
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PM Modi had in 2015 described the rural employment scheme MGNREGA as 'living monument of United Progressive Alliances’ failures’. However, during the pandemic additional funds amounting to ₹40,000 crore were allocated to the scheme as part of the Covid relief package by the Centre.
The Congress leader is in Wayanad to inaugurate Poothadi Grama Panchayat Kudumpasree Sangamam, including the Vidhya Vahini bus distribution at Infant Jesus School in Kenichira. Gandhi is visiting his constituency to attend the padyatra or foot march in the poll-bound state of Kerala. The lawmaker will be attending the programme to mark the conclusion of the padyatra that has been undertaken by the state Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala including some other programmes on February 22 and 23.
{{/usCountry}}The Congress leader is in Wayanad to inaugurate Poothadi Grama Panchayat Kudumpasree Sangamam, including the Vidhya Vahini bus distribution at Infant Jesus School in Kenichira. Gandhi is visiting his constituency to attend the padyatra or foot march in the poll-bound state of Kerala. The lawmaker will be attending the programme to mark the conclusion of the padyatra that has been undertaken by the state Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala including some other programmes on February 22 and 23.
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Various leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will also visit the southern state to join the Vijaya Yatra, which was flagged off by the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath from Kasaragod on Sunday. Union ministers Gen VK Singh, Pralhad Joshi, Nirmala Sitharaman and Smriti Irani and former Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will participate in the yatra, including Union home minister Amit Shah who will attend the culmination ceremony on March 7 in Thiruvananthapuram.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi also met with survivors of the Kozhikode plane crash that killed at least 18 people including two pilots. The Air India Express flight carrying around 190 passengers slipped while landing at Karipur airport in Kozhikode in August 2020.