New Delhi

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will undertake a two-day visit to his parliamentary constituency of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, where he is scheduled to address a public gathering opposing the scrapping of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and hold meetings with senior party leaders.

Gandhi is set to travel by road from Lucknow to Rae Bareli on Monday and will stay overnight at the Bhuemau Guest House.

According to the itinerary, the first day of his visit, January 20, will include a ‘MGNREGA Chaupal’ in Rohaniya area of Unchahar, where he will interact with local residents and workers affected by the changes to the rural employment scheme.

During the day, Gandhi will also inaugurate the Premier League T20 cricket tournament organised by the Youth Sports Academy Rae Bareli at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium in IIT Colony. In addition, he is scheduled to inaugurate several development projects funded under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme and pay a visit to the residence of the Municipal Corporation President.

On the second day of the visit, the Congress leader will hold discussions with senior party functionaries at his guest house to review organisational matters and the party’s protest strategy.

The Congress has strongly opposed the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) Act, 2025, which has replaced the MGNREGA framework. The party maintains that the new law weakens the rights-based nature of the rural employment guarantee.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee president Ajay Rai said on Sunday that the party has prepared an extensive programme to protest against the new legislation. He said the Congress plans to organise 30 Mahapanchayats across Uttar Pradesh as part of the agitation, adding that Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge may participate in some of these events.

Earlier this month, the Congress announced a nationwide, three-phase agitation titled ‘MGNREGA Bachao’ in response to the Centre’s enactment of the VB-G RAM G Act.

According to the party, the second phase of the campaign, which began on January 12, will continue until January 30. During this period, chaupals will be organised at the panchayat level across all gram panchayats, and letters from the Congress president will be distributed, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said.

He added that the party also plans to hold nukkad sabhas at the Vidhan Sabha level and distribute pamphlets to raise awareness about the issue. On January 30, observed as Martyrs’ Day, peaceful sit-ins will be organised at the ward level with participation from MGNREGA workers.

ALSO READ:  India to construct a mega project for endangered one-horn Rhinoceros in Kanziranga

Venugopal said the third phase of the agitation will begin on January 31 with district-level ‘MGNREGA Bachao’ dharnas outside district collector and district magistrate offices until February 6. This will be followed by state-level gheraos of Vidhan Sabha buildings from February 7 to February 15, and four zonal AICC rallies across the country between February 16 and February 25.