The Gujarat Assembly’s budget session got off to a contentious launch on Monday, with Congress unleashing a massive ‘Jan Aakrosh Sabha’ in Gandhinagar against the central proposal to substitute MGNREGA with the Viksit Bharat rural employment and livelihood bill.
A broad coalition converged: seasoned leaders, assembly members, Lok Sabha reps, tillers from the fields, tribal advocates, healthcare providers, and NGO foot soldiers. The Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee’s initiative highlighted simmering public discontent.
Mukul Wasnik, AICC General Secretary, delivered a powerhouse address, cataloging miseries—farmers in distress, women enduring abuse, youth poor and jobless at extremes, corruption at zenith. He indicted the Patel-Modi duumvirate for inaction.
Wasnik skewered fiscal strategies, arguing they bred US reliance over independence. A prime example: US’s 18% tariff slap versus India’s zero reciprocity. ‘Struggle continues until Gujarat’s government changes,’ he declared.
President Amit Chavda detailed grueling janata connect missions—5,000 km across vital zones. He pilloried youth targeting via drug/alcohol smears and caste frauds, MGNREGA loot via intermediaries.
Tushar Chaudhary indicted graft spanning governance tiers, forest officers bullying Adivasi workers. Mahesh Vasava evoked jal-van-bhoomi sagas; Geniben Thakor and Anant Patel flagged tribal administrative voids.
Session-long demos are pledged, with 2027 poll machinery revving—Rahul Gandhi’s visits anticipated. Congress emerges reinvigorated, championing the underdog in Gujarat’s political fray.