CWC meet: Congress top brass discuss strategy for 2026 polls, action against Centre over G RAM G law
Senior Congress leaders on Saturday attended a crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the partys highest decision-making body, to discuss the political situation ahead of multi-state assembly elections next year and chart its response to the governments repeal of the UPA-era rural employment scheme MGNREGA. The party is deliberating its strategy after the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005, was replaced by the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act (VB-G RAM G). The extended CWC meeting is being attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, along with chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, including Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. Presidents of Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) are also present. The meeting comes ahead of assembly elections due next year in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, with leaders expected to deliberate on the partys electoral strategy. The Congress is set to finalise its action plan to counter the government following the repeal of MGNREGA. The VB-G RAM G Bill was passed during the recently concluded winter session of Parliament and has since received the assent of President Droupadi Murmu. The Congress and other opposition parties have strongly objected to the new law, saying the removal of Mahatma Gandhis name from the scheme is an insult to his legacy. Under the new law, rural households are guaranteed 125 days of wage employment in a financial year for adults willing to undertake unskilled manual work. Unlike the earlier central scheme, the programme will now be funded jointly by the Centre and states in a 60:40 ratio.
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