Mamata to rename 'Karmashree' after Mahatma Gandhi: A double whammy for Congress?

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. (File: PTI)

Sharpening her confrontation with the BJP ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced her government's decision to rename the state government’s 'Karmashree' rural employment scheme after Mahatma Gandhi.

However, Mamata's announcement, made within hours of the Parliament clearing the Viksit Bharat- Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) or VB-G RAM G Bill, which replaces the UPA-era Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), also landed a twin political blow on the Congress.

By dropping Gandhi’s name from the central legislation, the BJP opened itself to Opposition attacks. Mamata seized the moment to both escalate that attack and position herself as the principal custodian of Gandhian legacy.

"The removal of Gandhiji's name fills me with deep shame. Are we now forgetting even the Father of the Nation?" Mamata said on Thursday. "We have therefore decided to rename our Karmashree scheme after Mahatma Gandhi. We seek nothing except respect. And if some do not know how to honour Mahatma Gandhi, we will demonstrate what true respect means."

The move allows Mamata to counter the BJP's rebranding of MGNREGA while simultaneously encroaching on political terrain long claimed by the Congress. For decades, the Congress has treated Gandhi's name and legacy as its moral and ideological anchor.

With the BJP "discarding" the Gandhi prefix from the scheme at the Centre and the Trinamool adopting it at the state level, the Congress finds itself squeezed from both ends.

Karmashree, launched by the Trinamool government after central funds under MGNREGA were withheld for West Bengal, provides up to 75 days of work to beneficiaries using state resources. Mamata has repeatedly said her government intends to raise this to 100 days.

"We have already created lots of workdays under Karmashree, which we are running with our own resources. Even if central funds are stopped, we will ensure people get work. We are not beggars," she said.

Politically, the announcement reinforces Mamata's attempt to frame the Bengal battle as one rooted in federalism, dignity and state pride. Over recent months, she has portrayed issues such as the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, central fund curbs as assaults on Bengal and its people. Her party MPs were also among the most vocal during the protests in Parliament over the VB-G RAM G Bill.

But the collateral damage is borne by the Congress. While the BJP has stripped the party of one of its most enduring UPA-era legacies by overhauling MGNREGA, Mamata has stepped in to appropriate the Gandhian symbolism that once belonged almost exclusively to the grand old party.

This is particularly significant in Bengal, where the Congress and the Trinamool remain adversaries despite being allies nationally under the INDIA bloc.

The TMC has repeatedly accused the Congress of electoral miscalculations and leadership failures, most recently after the Bihar debacle. The Congress too has refused to concede political space to Mamata in Bengal, ensuring that any Opposition unity remains largely theoretical in the state.

Against this backdrop, Mamata's renaming of Karmashree serves multiple purposes. It positions her as the sharpest critic of the BJP's ideological choices, underscores her claim of delivering welfare despite central roadblocks, and signals to Opposition ranks that she, not the Congress, is best placed to carry the mantle of moral opposition.

As Bengal heads into another high-stakes electoral cycle, the Congress finds itself facing an uncomfortable reality. Its ideological symbols are being discarded by its principal rival and repurposed by an ally-turned-competitor. By the end of it, the Congress only finds itself politically exposed on both fronts.