Cong opposing VB-G RAM G because it has Lord Ram's name: Rajasthan BJP chief

Jaipur, Jan 6 (PTI) Rajasthan BJP president Madan Rathore on Tuesday targeted the Congress for opposing the 'Viksit Bharat-Guarantee Rozgar Aur Aajeevika Mission Act' (VB-G RAM G Act), claiming that the party has an objection to the name of Lord Ram.

Speaking to reporters at the party office here, Rathore said the Congress was raising unnecessary controversy over the nomenclature of the employment and livelihood mission.

"The Congress has a problem with the name Ram," he alleged.

Rathore said there should be no objection if the BJP government has enacted a new law by linking employment and livelihood schemes with the vision of a 'Viksit Bharat'. He accused the Congress of repeatedly renaming welfare schemes in the past to please members of a single family.

Citing examples, Rathore said the National Rural Employment Programme was renamed as the Jawahar Rozgar Yojana during former PM Rajiv Gandhi's tenure and later rechristened as NREGA and MGNREGA under the Manmohan Singh government. He also pointed out that the rural housing scheme was renamed Indira Awas Yojana from its earlier name.

"The Congress attached the Nehru-Gandhi family's name to nearly 600 schemes, whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi has refrained from naming schemes after himself or others, instead linking them with service and Sanatan values," Rathore said.

Rathore said the new law would not only provide employment to the needy but also accelerate the campaign to build developed gram panchayats as part of the larger goal of a developed India.

He added that the BJP prioritises the welfare of villages and the poor.

Rathore also accused Congress MPs from Rajasthan of misusing their MPLAD funds to appease their "political masters", calling it a betrayal of the people of their constituencies. PTI AG APL APL