Bengaluru, February 23 – Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Monday that the BJP is nearing its end.
Speaking at the "Save the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MGNREGA)" convention in Chikkaballapura, he said, "Like a lamp that burns brightly before it goes out, the BJP is nearing its end as they are planning to end the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi."
"We are organizing this event to save the nation. The Congress party has provided employment guarantees to rural people through the MGNREGA scheme. The Centre is trying to scrap the scheme. We need to save MGNREGA and protect Gandhiji's legacy," he said.
"The panchayats had the power to decide which projects to undertake. The scheme ensured that each of the 5900 panchayats would receive work worth Rs 1-2 crore. We need to save MGNREGA," he added.
"MGNREGA is a scheme that gives confidence to farmers and laborers, and we need to protect it. Our party and the government have decided to name the panchayat offices after Mahatma," he said.
"Under the new scheme, states have to bear 40 per cent of the costs. Even states run by the BJP will not be able to implement it. Chandrababu Naidu has also said he will not be able to implement the new scheme. This new scheme is a death knell for all the states," he noted.
"The BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi used to criticize our guarantee schemes, but they later copied them. No one can stop the time-bound guarantee scheme. The Congress party will not allow anyone to stop it," he said.
"Just as they are infringing on voters' rights, they are also infringing on employment rights. We will continue to fight until MGNREGA is reinstated. We need your support in this fight," he concluded.