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A dispute over the content of his prepared speech culminated in Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot delivering only two lines to the joint session and leaving the House on January 22. Sources in the Chief Minister’s Office told TNM that the Governor objected specifically to the portions referring to the VB-G Ram G Act and a section in the speech that spoke about MNREGA.
Gehlot had earlier declined to deliver the customary address over 11 paragraphs in the speech drafted by the Congress government, which included sharp criticism of the Union government for introducing the VB-G RAM G (Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin)) Act.
When he took the podium, the Governor offered a customary greeting and then proceeded directly to the final line of the address. “My government is committed to doubling the speed of economic and social progress in the State. Jai Hind, Jai Karnataka,” he said, before concluding and walking out. His abrupt departure triggered loud protests and raised fresh questions about the strained relationship between the state government and Raj Bhavan.
Here are the parts the Governor refused to read:
The excised sections strongly opposed the Union government’s Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB Gram-G) scheme, which replaced the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). The speech argued that the new law would reinstate distress-driven migration to cities and curtail employment rights of Dalits, Adivasis, women, backward classes and agrarian communities.
2. Within the federal framework, the State is facing a suppressive situation in economic and policy matters. It has suffered injustice in tax devolution, centrally sponsored schemes, central sector schemes, and special schemes. The Union Government must seriously consider that economically suppressing Karnataka, which occupies a driving position in the national economy, will adversely affect the entire country. During the period of the 15th Finance Commission, resources to the tune of approximately ₹1.25 lakh crore were denied to the State, and this grave injustice has been brought to the notice of the 16th Finance Commission. The Government is firmly confident that this injustice will be rectified in the coming days.
3. Meanwhile, the Union Government has repealed the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. By doing so, it has deprived rural wage labourers, small farmers, and women of their rights to employment and unemployment allowance. By repealing the MGNREGA Act, which was a monumental chapter in rural India’s development journey, the rural life of India has been weakened.
4. Mahatma Gandhi envisioned villages as independent and autonomous units. He stated, “If villages perish, India will perish. The message that this country has to give to the world will disappear. Village regeneration is possible only when exploitation of villages completely ceases. All our attention must be focused on making villages self-reliant.” He also believed that villages should not become cesspools, and that people should not be forced to migrate to cities in search of food and employment. In this context, the Union Government launched the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in 2005. Over the last 20 years, the State has undertaken 76.89 lakh works under this scheme at a cost of ₹61,030 crore and generated 182.5 crore person-days of employment.
5. The employment guarantee assured under the MGNREGA Act has been taken away by the new VB Gram-G Act. Section 3 of the MGNREGA Act clearly mandated that every person who applied for work in a Panchayat must be provided employment. The demand-based employment principle has been destroyed and replaced with a supply-driven scheme. The VB Gram-G scheme has been designed to protect corporate capitalist interests, thereby sacrificing rural people’s welfare. As a result, the noble objectives of rural asset creation and providing employment to labourers at their place of residence have been reduced to nothing. My Government strongly condemns this anti-progressive measure. MGNREGA had earned nationwide recognition and stood as a symbol of progress, but the Union Government has consigned it to oblivion.
6. The new law has weakened Gandhiji’s core vision of Gram Swaraj embedded in MGNREGA. Panchayati Raj Institutions, which form the foundational pillars of Indian democracy, symbolise decentralisation of power. The Union Government has uprooted this decentralised framework and laid the foundation for a centralised system. Under MGNREGA, works were decided and implemented through Gram Sabhas. Under the new law, the powers of Gram Sabhas have been completely curtailed through centralised norms. These actions are not merely anti-democratic but are also anti-progressive measures that ignore the demands of the majority of citizens and push national interest towards destruction.
7. MGNREGA had significantly reduced distress migration. However, under the new law, decisions are imposed from the Centre. A council of officials is constituted in Delhi, which decides where the scheme will be implemented. My Government strongly opposes this VB Gram-G scheme that reinstates migration to cities in search of employment. The new law has curtailed the employment rights of Dalits, Adivasis, women, backward classes, and agrarian communities.
“8. While repealing an employment guarantee law and introducing a new law, the opinions of States ought to have been sought. Centrally sponsored involve State participation. Implementing such a law without consulting States amounts to unconstitutional conduct. schemes
9. Worker-centric rights under MGNREGA have been diluted and labourers are being placed under contractors' control. Opportunities to revise wages based on inflation and price rise have diminished. Consequently, the social security of poor wage labourers is being eroded.
10. The name of Mahatma Gandhi has been removed. Under the new law, States already facing financial stress due to Union policies must contribute 40% of the funding. If States fail to contribute, the Centre will withhold funds, leading the scheme towards gradual extinction.
11. For all these reasons, my Government demands that the Union Government immediately repeal the VB Gram-G law and restore the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, which safeguards the poor, agricultural labourers, rural asset creation, unemployment allowance, and employment at the place of their residence."
The incident comes amid a series of confrontations between Governors and state governments across southern India. Just two days earlier, on January 20, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi walked out of the Assembly without delivering his customary address, alleging “inaccuracies” in the text provided by the state government. In Kerala, Governor Rajendra Arlekar was accused of omitting portions of his speech, with the Kerala Lok Bhavan stating that his recommendations had been excluded from the draft submitted to him.