NEW DELHI: The Congress on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day after Parliament passed the VB-G RAM G Bill, which seeks to replace the 20-year-old Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, alleging that the Prime Minister is suffering from a “case of acute acronym-itis”.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared a cartoon on X that read, “All new A.C.R.O.N.Y.M MANTRALAYA – Administrative Commission for Renaming Old Schemes — New Yet Meaningless”. Accompanying the post, Ramesh said, “The PM is suffering from a case of acute acronym-itis.” The Congress leader’s remark came a day after Parliament cleared two bills carrying long acronyms, including the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill and the Sustainable Harnessing and Advancement of Nuclear Energy for Transforming India (SHANTI) Bill.The VB-G RAM G Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha with a voice vote hours after it was approved by the Lok Sabha on Thursday, amid strong protests by opposition parties. The opposition objected to the removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the existing rural employment guarantee scheme MGNREGA and accused the government of shifting the financial burden of the new scheme onto states.During the passage of the Bill, several opposition members staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha after demanding its withdrawal and raising slogans against the government. Some MPs also tore pages of the Bill, prompting Chairman C P Radhakrishnan to warn them against approaching the treasury benches.Following the passage of the legislation, opposition MPs staged an overnight dharna outside the Samvidhan Sadan in the Parliament complex to protest against the Bill.