Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka calls upon Congress cadres to organise Congress Flag Festival on a massive scale on January 26

Delving into the historical legacy of the Congress, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the Congress ideology is the only path to protecting the nation. Safeguarding country is possible only if Congress ideology survives, he added.

Speaking to the media in Khammam on Sunday on the occasion of the 140^th Foundation Day of the Congress, he said, December 28 marks a historic day as the foundation of Congress was laid on this day in 1885.

He alleged that a conspiracy is under way to erase the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).

The BJP-led government at the Centre is hellbent on weakening the pioneering scheme, jeopardising the interests of rural poor across the country, he charged.

He recalled that the then Congress government had allocated a budge of ₹1 lakh crore to the MGNREGS with noble intentions.

“The removal of Mahatma Gandhi’s name from the MGNREGS and the Centre’s attempts to ‘dismantle’ the scheme are ‘conspiracies’ that must be exposed,” he said.

Listing out the contributions made by the Congress to building modern India, he noted that the success of Indians as CEOs of leading global tech companies is due to management institutions such as IIMs established by Congress governments.

A slew of landmark legislations such as Right to Education Act, Right to Information Act, MGNREGS were enacted during the tenure of the Congress-led governments at the Centre.