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Jairam Ramesh
The Congress on Saturday launched its 45-day nationwide campaign -- MGNREGA Bachao Sangram -- against the repeal of the UPA-era rural employment law by holding press conferences at every district. The opposition party's agitation demanding the withdrawal of the VB-G RAM G Act and restoration of MGNREGA as a rights-based law in its original form, the right to work, and the authority of panchayats, will continue till February 25. Press conferences were held at all district headquarters on Saturday, highlighting the manner in which MGNREGA was repealed and replaced by the VB-G RAM G Act in the Winter Session of Parliament. This will be followed by a day-long fast and symbolic protests at the district headquarters on January 11. "Today, the Indian National Congress is launching the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram with a press conference at each of the District Congress Committee offices across the country. "The Congress is committed to seeing this struggle through until we secure the restorati
The Congress on Friday cited a media report to claim that the Modi government is now proposing to lift five-?year-old curbs on Chinese companies bidding for Indian government contracts and claimed that this is "nothing short of a calibrated capitulation" to Chinese aggression. The opposition party also demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must explain his government's sudden "U-?turns" on China policy during the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a media report which claimed that India's finance ministry plans to scrap five-year-old restrictions on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts. There was no immediate response from the government on the claims. "Eight months after China gave full military backing (and fronting) to Pakistan during Operation Sindoor and was described by Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen Rahul R Singh as one of India's 'adversaries', the Modi government is now .
The Aravallis are the country's natural heritage and have great ecological value, the Congress on Tuesday said, as it wondered why the Modi government was "hell-bent" on redefining the mountain range and for whose benefit. In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the recent "clarifications" on the ancient mountain range given by the Environment and Forest Minister raise more questions. "Aravallis are part of our natural heritage and have great ecological value. They need substantial restoration and meaningful protection. Why is the Modi Government hellbent on redefining them? To what end? For whose benefit? "And why are the recommendations of a professional organisation like the Forest Survey of India being deliberately ignored and set aside?" he asked. Ramesh also said, "The very recent 'clarifications' given by the Union Minister of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change on the Aravallis issue raise even more questions and doubts." The Congress leader, who
A day after Parliament passed the VB-G RAM G Bill that seeks to replace the 20-year-old MGNREGA, the Congress on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he is suffering from a "case of acute acronym-itis". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh posted on X a cartoon representation on X which read: "All new A.C.R.O.N.Y.M MANTRALAYA - Administrative Commission for Renaming Old Schemes -- New Yet Meaningless". "The PM is suffering from a case of acute acronym-itis," Ramesh said in his post accompanying the cartoon. His dig came a day after the passage of two bills in Parliament with catchy acronyms -- 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 the Lok Sabha cleared it on Thursday, amid strong protests by the opposition
The Congress on Saturday said it is perhaps not very surprising that India is not part of a US-led strategic initiative to build a secure silicon supply chain, given the "sharp downturn" in the Trump-Modi ties, and asserted that it would have been to "our advantage if we had been part of this group". Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying the news of India not being part of the group comes after the PM had enthusiastically posted on social media about a telephone call with his "once-upon-a-time good friend and a recipient of many hugs in Ahmedabad, Houston, and Washington DC". In a lengthy post on X, Ramesh said, "According to some news reports, the US has excluded India from a nine-nation initiative it has launched to reduce Chinese control on high-tech supply chains. The agreement is called Pax Silica, clearly as a counter to Pax Sinica. The nations included (for the moment at least) are the US, ...
The Congress on Friday termed as a "blatant lie" Home Minister Amit Shah's "vote chori" charge against Jawaharlal Nehru as he cited eminent historian-author Rajmohan Gandhi's comments that people were very happy with Nehru becoming the prime minister and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel himself was in favour of it. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh shared on X a video clip of Rajmohan Gandhi, the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, in which he clarifies that the Pradesh Congress Committee's had batted for Patel to be the Congress president in 1946 and there was no question of prime ministership at the time. "The eminent historian-author and ex-MP Rajmohan Gandhi exposes one blatant lie told by the Union Home Minister in the Lok Sabha," Ramesh said on X. Rajmohan's paternal grandfather was the Mahatma while his maternal grandfather was C. Rajagopalachari, Nehru pointed out and shared the over 13-minute clip of Rajmohan Gandhi. "Thousands of people who went in jail fo
After both Houses held a debate on 150 years of Vande Mataram, the Congress on Thursday claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and "his entire brigade" have been thoroughly "bruised and exposed for their lies". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh noted that the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debated Vande Mataram for three days. The national anthem also figured in some speeches, he said in a post on X. "It is clear that the PM and his entire brigade have NOT read the two definitive and authoritative books on the national song and the national anthem - written by two of India's finest historians, in the true sense of that term," Ramesh said and shared the screenshot of the cover pages of Rudrangshu Mukherjee's 'Song of India: A Study of the National Anthem' and Sabyasachi Bhattacharya's Vande Materam. "It is too much to expect that they would do so even after being thoroughly bruised and exposed for their lies," the Congress leader said. Earlier, Ramesh
Ahead of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to India, the Congress on Thursday recalled Soviet leaders Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev's tour of India and said the India-Russia ties are the direct outcome and continuation of the Indo-Soviet partnership cemented for the first time in late half of 1955. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh noted that the 23rd annual summit between the President of Russia and the Prime Minister of India in the last 26 years begins today. "These ties go back even longer.Exactly 70 years ago the top two leaders of the USSR came to India. Nikolai Bulganin and Nikita Khrushchev were here for an extraordinary 19 days: from November 18 to 30, 1955, and again from Dec 7 to 14, 1955. This followed Jawaharlal Nehru's journey to the USSR six months earlier," Ramesh said. The Bulganin-Khrushchev visit established the foundations of close Indo-Soviet collaboration of which the Bhilai Steel Plant and IIT Bombay were only tw
With US President Donald Trump announcing that he is barring South Africa from participating in next year's G20 summit in Miami, the Congress on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the "self-proclaimed champion" of both Africa and the Global South and asked whether he will take up South Africa's cause with his "good friend". Trump said Wednesday that he is barring South Africa from participating in the Group of 20 summit next year in Miami and will "stop all payments and subsidies" to the country over its treatment of a US government representative at this year's global meeting. Reacting to the development, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said South Africa has been in the G20 from the very beginning simply because it is the largest economy measured by size of GDP in the African continent. "It is not there because the US is doing it some favour. It was very much present at the very first G20 Summit held in Washington DC that was chaired by ..
Taking a swipe at the RSS-BJP on Constitution Day, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday alleged that the Sangh's role was to attack and undermine it, and that role had been taken forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah "who have been subverting constitutional principles in a calculated manner". Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the RSS "had no role whatsoever" in the making of the Constitution "On Saturday, November 26 1949, the Constituent Assembly met at 10 AM with Dr. Rajendra Prasad in the Chair. Before formally putting the motion for the adoption of the draft Constitution of India that had been moved by Dr. Ambedkar the previous day to the vote, Dr Rajendra Prasad made his remarks," Ramesh recalled. "In his speech explaining the background to and highlights of the Draft that was soon to be adopted, Dr. Rajendra Prasad recalled: 'The method which the Constituent Assembly adopted in connection with the ...
The Congress on Tuesday recalled that BR Ambedkar had moved the resolution in the Constituent Assembly 76 years ago for the formal adoption of the draft Constitution and claimed that Ambedkar as well as the Constitution were then subject to a "ferocious assault" by the RSS which has continued since. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also recalled that in his closing speech before moving the resolution, Ambedkar had hailed the role of the Congress in drafting the Constitution. Today, exactly 76 years ago, Dr. Ambedkar moved the resolution in the Constituent Assembly for the formal adoption of the Draft Constitution of India, he said. "Ambedkar's closing speech on that occasion is undoubtedly one of the greatest ever made by anybody anywhere in the 20th century," Ramesh said on X. "During the initial part of his speech, Dr. Ambedkar had said this: 'The task of the Drafting Committee would have been a very difficult one if this Constituent Assembly had
The Congress on Thursday described as "yet another severe setback" to India's diplomacy a US commission reportedly mentioning in its report of "Pakistan's military success over India" in a four-day clash, and asked whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs will register their objections to it. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said US President Donald Trump has claimed 60 times so far that he had "halted Operation Sindoor" but the prime minister has kept "completely quiet". The party's communications in-charge said the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission has just submitted its annual report to the US Congress. The commission set up jointly by the US Senate and House of Representatives has twelve independent members, Ramesh pointed out. "The 2025 Annual Report is almost 800 pages long. The sections on pages 108 and 109 are simply astonishing and beyond understanding. It describes the Pahalgam terror attack of April 2025 orchestrated
The Congress on Saturday said the demonetisation announced on this day nine years ago was a "disastrous Tughlakian decision" that devastated the livelihoods of crores of Indians, besides crippling trade and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Indian economy lost its momentum on account of the "Notebandi" and has never really recovered after that. "Today is the 9th anniversary of the singularly disastrous, Tughlakian decision relating to demonetisation. "The livelihoods of crores of Indians were devastated. Trade and MSMEs were crippled. The unorganised sector accounting for over 92 per cent of total employment was destroyed. The amount of black and counterfeit money didn't reduce. The slogan of cashless became meaningless. The 2,000 rupee note that was introduced has been withdrawn," Ramesh said in a post on X. "The Indian economy lost its momentum on account of Notebandi. It has never really recovered," he added. The Cong
The Winter session of Parliament will be held from December 1 to 19, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Saturday. "The Hon'ble President of India Smt. Droupadi Murmu ji has approved the proposal of the Government to convene the #WinterSession of Parliament from 1st December 2025 to 19th December, 2025 (subject to exigencies of Parliamentary business)," Rijiju said on X. "Looking forward to a constructive and meaningful Session that strengthens our democracy and serves the aspirations of the people," he said.
The Congress on Tuesday said a bill introduced in the US Senate proposing a 25 per cent tax on any American person making an outsourcing payment will "light a fire in the Indian economy" if it becomes a reality. The opposition party said the bill reflects a growing mindset in the US that while blue-collar jobs were "lost" to China, white-collar jobs should not be "lost to India." Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh made the remarks, referring to the Halting International Relocation of Employment Act, or HIRE Act Bill, introduced on October 6 by Senator Bernie Moreno of Ohio. The bill has been referred to the Senate Committee on Finance, he said on X. The bill proposes a 25 per cent tax on any US person making an outsourcing payment, defined as "any money paid by a US company or taxpayer to a foreign person whose work benefits consumers in the United States," he said. The bill has a direct and deep impact on India's IT services, BPO, consulting and GCC
Taking a swipe at the BJP-RSS on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's birth anniversary, the Congress on Friday said selfless icons would have been horrified by their misappropriation by an ideology that, in the words of Patel himself, had created an atmosphere that made the ghastly tragedy of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination possible. Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh took a swipe at the Modi government and claimed that since 2014 especially, history has been subject to brazen misrepresentation and distortion by "G2 and their ecosystem". "Today as a grateful nation celebrates Sardar Patel@150 we must also recall that on February 13, 1949, Jawaharlal Nehru had unveiled a statue of Sardar Patel in Godhra, where the Iron Man of India had started his legal practice. Nehru's speech on that occasion must be read and re-read to get an insight into their powerful and profound partnership of over three decades," Ramesh said on X. "In a message on the eve of Sardar Patel'