The Congress on Sunday accused the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government of ordering a “brutal lathi-charge” on National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) protesters who were taking out a peaceful march in Varanasi as part of the party’s nationwide ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’ campaign.
Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh shared a video clip on X purportedly showing police pushing protesters and using force against the demonstrators.
He said the march in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency was led by NSUI national president Varun Chaudhary and described it as a peaceful and democratic protest carried out within the framework of constitutional rights.
“Yet, the Yogi–Modi ‘trouble-engine’ government, afraid of being questioned, ordered the police to brutally lathi-charge the protesters,” Ramesh alleged in his post.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also condemned the police action, calling the use of force and arrests against peacefully protesting students “highly condemnable.”
In a post on X, she said the Modi government was “snatching away the legal right to employment from millions of workers,” and that those who raised their voices were being met with brute force.
“Every single worker of the Congress party stands firmly against this injustice, oppression and repression,” she said.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera asked, “Is peaceful protest a crime in a democracy?”
The protest in Varanasi comes amid the Congress’s 45-day nationwide agitation, ‘MGNREGA Bachao Sangram’, which was launched on January 10 against the repeal of the UPA-era rural employment law.
The campaign began with press conferences at district headquarters across the country.
The party is demanding the withdrawal of the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Act and the restoration of MGNREGA as a rights-based law in its original form, including the right to work and the authority of panchayats. The agitation will continue till February 25.
According to the Congress’s programme, district-level press conferences were held on January 10, followed by day-long fasts and symbolic protests on January 11. From January 12 to 29, chaupals and mass contact programmes will be organised at the gram panchayat level, followed by ward-level peaceful sit-ins on January 30.
State-level gheraos of Vidhan Sabhas are scheduled from February 7 to 15, and four major rallies will be held between February 16 and 25 before the campaign concludes.
The Congress said that, unlike the agitation against the now-repealed farm laws, which was largely Delhi-centric, the MGNREGA Bachao Sangram would be panchayat-, block-, district- and state-centric.
On Sunday, as part of the ‘Save MGNREGA’ campaign, workers of the Himachal Pradesh Congress observed a fast to peacefully protest what the party described as the government’s high-handedness.
The VB-G RAM G Act was passed by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha amid protests on December 18, 2025, hours after it was cleared by the Lok Sabha. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill on December 21, making it law. The Act guarantees 125 days of wage employment per rural household every financial year.
The post “Is peaceful protest a crime”: Congress slams lathi-charge on NSUI’s MGNREGA march in Varanasi appeared first on Maktoob media.
