The Congress party announced a nationwide campaign, the 'MGNREGA Bachao Abhiyan,' starting January 5, to protest the replacement of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the new Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Act. Congress leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi, criticized the move as an attack on rural India, federalism, and the rights of workers, alleging it was a unilateral decision by the Prime Minister's Office. The government, through Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, dismissed these claims as political rhetoric, stating the new law is the future and that Congress lacked intent to strengthen the original scheme.