Stormy Budget session ahead as Opposition plans to turn up MGNREGA-SIR heat on govt

The Parliament is likely to witness an uproar during the impending Budget session as the Opposition Congress-led INDIA bloc is set to corner the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government over a range of issues, with the MGNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and SIR (Special Intensive Revision) dominating its arsenal.

And since the first phase will have only eight sittings, the furore will likely continue in the second phase of the Budget session too, all the way to April 2.

The Budget session, with a total of 30 sittings and a break in between, will begin with the address of President Droupadi Murmu to both the Houses on Wednesday (January 28). The first phase of the session will continue till February 13, while the second phase will continue from March 9 to April 2.

Tariffs and Aravalli among other issues

The Federal talked to several leaders in the Opposition camp to understand their strategy for the fresh Parliament session. It appears that the bloc is set to corner the government over several issues, with the MGNREGA and SIR being the top priorities.

Also read: Kiren Rijiju rejects opposition demand for debate on VB-G RAM G Act

“The first phase in this session is not going to be that long. But whatever opportunities we will get, definitely these issues are going to be at the top,” senior Congress leader and MP Manickam Tagore, who is also the party’s Lok Sabha Whip, told The Federal.

He said besides these two issues, the questions about tariffs being levied by the US on India and the Aravalli Hills are going to be raised by the Congress.

Second phase may get hotter

Another senior Congress MP in Rajya Sabha told The Federal that it is in the second phase that things are going to get “heated up” in both the Houses.

“We have just got eight sittings in the first phase of this session. There will be the President’s address and Budget presentation. There isn’t going to be that much time, but we will definitely raise both SIR and MGNREGA,” said the veteran Congress leader, wanting not to be named.

However, what worries this leader is that several MPs, particularly from poll-bound states like Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry, are going to be busy campaigning. “We may find it difficult to raise the heat against the government in the Parliament the way we might want to,” the MP admitted.

INDIA bloc together

A senior Samajwadi Party leader told The Federal that both MGNREGA and SIR hold significant importance for his party and leader Akhilesh Yadav. “We will focus on how SIR should become more transparent with all the other Opposition parties in the Parliament,” said the SP leader. He said the issue holds significance for the party since local body elections in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held in April this year, followed by the Assembly elections next year.

Also read: MGNREGA vs VB-G RAM G: Increased state share adds financial strain on Karnataka

Senior RJD leader Manoj Jha told The Federal the party’s priority would be to raise both the issues—MGNREGA and SIR. “The protest against SIR has been going on. We have been raising it. We are going to raise it in this Parliament session. We want to ensure support for our INDIA bloc partners in election-bound states the way they supported us during Bihar elections,” said Jha. He added that the Opposition will ensure that they bring back MGNREGA and withdraw VB-G RAM G.

He said INDIA bloc is together on these issues.

No slack before polls

RJD leader Jha also said that since it is a Budget session, their focus will also be on “income inequality”. “We will ask this government what their plans are to address it. There is the joblessness issue. Also, in a federal scheme of things, the governors are behaving in a certain way. It shouldn’t happen in a democracy. There are also questions over the overall socio-cultural atmosphere in the country, where you target somebody because of his or her identity. These are also issues,” said Jha.

A CPI(M) functionary also told The Federal the party wants MGNREGA back, for which it has held protests across the country, including in states like Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Andhra Pradesh. “Our focus will be raising the MGNREGA issue and also SIR. The Kerala election is impending and we cannot let our guard down,” said the CPI(M) party functionary.

The MGNREGA-G RAM G debate

The Opposition is protesting against the VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission – Gramin) Act replacing MGNREGA late last year. Particularly the Congress has called the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name an insult to the Father of the Nation and an attempt to erase his legacy from public memory.

Also read: Why VB-G RAM G raises fears over future of rural jobs in Andhra Pradesh

The Opposition has been arguing that under the new Act, the Centre will fund 60 per cent of wages, leaving the states to bear 40 per cent, while the MGNREGA had the Centre covering 100 per cent of wages. According to the Opposition, the new Act will make the scheme collapse since many states won’t be able to bear that load.

With VB-G RAM G increasing the number of guaranteed days of work from 100 to 125, the Opposition states it shifts the framework from a demand-driven “legal right to work” to a “supply-driven” scheme with budget caps, making it dependent on government discretion rather than a worker’s entitlement.

More centralised control

The new Act, the Opposition believes, empowers the Centre to decide which states can receive funds and where projects are needed. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, at the CWC meeting held in New Delhi against the scrapping of MGNREGA, said the new Act takes away the authority of panchayats.

What the Opposition has also opposed is the “60-day pause” provision in the new Act, arguing that it allows the government to legally pause work for up to 60 days during peak agricultural seasons.

The Congress has already launched a nationwide “MGNREGA Bachao Sangram” from January 10 to demand the withdrawal of the Act and restoration of the original MGNREGA.

NRC in disguise?

Besides, the Opposition’s contention against the Election Commission’s SIR exercise is that the exercise is being used selectively to delete the names of voters from communities that traditionally support Opposition parties, including minorities, SCs and STs. During the recent Bihar Assembly elections, Rahul Gandhi termed the EC’s exercise as “vote chori” (vote theft).

Also read: Muslim voters in flux ahead of 2026 Bengal polls as SIR fuels fear

The concerns from the Opposition have also been raised in the poll-bound states, including West Bengal and Assam, as the Opposition claims that the SIR is actually the National Register of Citizens (NRC) process in “disguise” to target specific demographics under the pretext of identifying “illegal infiltrators”. The Opposition has also highlighted the issue of elderly citizens and women forced to stand in long queues for hours at hearing centres to prove their citizenship.

The Opposition has also been raising anomalies in the draft rolls, including several voters being registered at a single household address, while it also argues that the three-month timeframe is insufficient for such a massive exercise, resulting in intense pressure on Booth Level Officers (BLOs) and increasing the risk of errors.