MGNREGA revamp faces dissent from key BJP ally | Powertrip #130

Welcome to this week’s Powertrip, a political newsletter exclusively curated for TNM and NL subscribers. This week’s edition is by Shabbir Ahmed, Pooja Prasanna, Jahanvi Reddy, and Anjana Meenakshi.In this edition, we tell you about an ally who is unhappy with the Modi government’s proposed MGNREGA overhaul, but plans to voice its concerns quietly rather than openly.The second story is about how a TDP spokesperson’s gaffe, crediting Nara Lokesh for “monitoring” the IndiGo flight crisis, triggered a heated on-air confrontation with Republic TV’s Arnab Goswami.Lastly, we learnt that CM Stalin and Deputy CM Udhayanidhi will participate in a major Christmas event and we tell you why.Read the full newsletter for all the details. For those who can’t access the full newsletter, get a subscription and read every Tuesday. .Inside TrackExclusive stories, for your eyes only.MGNREGA revamp meets with resistance from within NDAThe Modi government’s move to overhaul the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing resistance from an unexpected quarter. Opposition is not limited to the INDIA bloc; unease is also brewing within the NDA itself.The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), a key BJP ally, is particularly uncomfortable with a new provision that requires states to shoulder 40% of the scheme’s funding. For Andhra Pradesh, which is already grappling with a severe fiscal crunch, this change could significantly strain state finances.Yet, don’t expect a dramatic showdown.According to sources, the TDP has no plans to publicly oppose the bill. Instead, the party is opting for a calibrated, low-key approach. Two senior TDP leaders told us that the party has conveyed its discomfort with the proposed 60:40 Union–State funding formula. Rather than criticising the legislation outright, they plan to raise the issue cautiously on the floor of the Lok Sabha.The party is also banking on the bill being referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), where it hopes to formally flag its concerns and push for modifications away from the political spotlight.In many ways, this mirrors the TDP’s earlier strategy on the Wakf Act. The party neither openly opposed the government nor enthusiastically endorsed the legislation. On the proposed VB–GRAM G Bill too, the TDP appears set to walk a familiar tightrope, voicing concern without confrontation and dissent without defiance..Arnab vs TDP: How an IndiGo debate spiralled into political embarrassmentAs public anger mounted over IndiGo’s mass flight cancellations, TDP leaders rushed to defend Union Civil Aviation Minister Ram Mohan Naidu. But a televised misstep by one of the party’s spokespersons ended up deepening the embarrassment and handed fresh ammunition to the YSRCP to ridicule the party.The controversy erupted on Republic World’s Debate with Arnab, where Arnab Goswami grilled the Civil Aviation Ministry for temporarily exempting IndiGo from newly introduced pilot duty time regulations to manage the crisis. Arnab repeatedly questioned whether the relaxation compromised passenger safety.During the debate, TDP leader Gunapati Deepak Reddy offered a baffling response, crediting Andhra Pradesh Minister Nara Lokesh, son of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and the party’s projected heir apparent, for “monitoring” the situation. The remark immediately drew Arnab’s ire. He demanded to know in what capacity a state minister was overseeing a central aviation issue, sarcastically asking whether the crisis was being handled by the Civil Aviation Ministry or a “TDP ministry.”The exchange grew more confrontational when Arnab turned his attention to another TDP spokesperson, Pattabhi Ram Kommareddy, shouting on air and asking why Minister Ram Mohan Naidu was not returning his calls.Later that night, Arnab escalated the drama further, claiming that the TDP had officially boycotted Republic TV for questioning the Civil Aviation Minister. An empty chair was theatrically placed on set to represent the absent party.However, TDP insiders strongly denied any such boycott. According to party sources, spokespersons were instructed to stay away from all national television debates, not Republic TV in particular, to avoid mixed messaging.“The Ministry of Civil Aviation has its own spokespersons and communication channels, and Ram Mohan Naidu has been speaking to the media himself. If party leaders jump in, it risks contradictory statements. TDP was not on any channel that night, but Arnab misunderstood it as a boycott,” a source said.On the awkward Lokesh reference that triggered the backlash, the source admitted it was an unforced error. “It was baffling why Deepak Reddy said that. Lokesh had already left for the US that evening to attend diaspora events. It was a foolish reply, and Arnab was not at fault there,” the source said.Meanwhile, party insiders suggest that Republic TV’s relentless focus on the IndiGo crisis may have had motives beyond public interest. While the primary aim was to tap into a ‘common man’ issue to drive viewer engagement, another factor appears to have been competition with India Today. The latter had secured a widely promoted world exclusive interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin, an opportunity Republic reportedly missed despite being shortlisted. To counter and overshadow that coverage, Republic allegedly mounted an aggressive campaign around the IndiGo crisis..DMK’s Christmas calculationAhead of the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections, the DMK has been carefully crafting its strategy to reach out to all sections of voters.One important segment is the minority communities, which have largely voted for the DMK in the past. This time, internal surveys carried out by the DMK’s political strategy firm, PEN, have shown a variation among Christian voters.The entry of actor Vijay’s TVK into the fray is seen as a major reason for this split in votes within the Christian community. To reach out to the community, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin and a majority of his cabinet colleagues will participate in a Christmas event scheduled to be held in Tirunelveli on December 20.The decision to hold the event in Tirunelveli is significant because the district has a 38% Christian population, and Christian voters in districts such as Thoothukudi and Kanniyakumar are key deciding factors. Several demands of the Christian community remain unmet, especially those of the Roman Catholic community which does not have any representation in the cabinet.Christian minority institutions have also been facing issues related to the approval of teachers who joined service before 2019, along with other minority rights issues in educational institutions. Several files related to the allocation of graveyards for the Christian community in various districts are pending. This Christmas, the community hopes that CM Stalin will don the role of Santa and answer their prayers.Sources in the DMK also say that the Chief Minister has instructed his deputy, Udhayanidhi Stalin, to participate in Christmas events as well. The Deputy CM is also expected to tour southern Tamil Nadu in an attempt to reach out to the Christian community..Zero HourA political story of public importance.‘A bill to destroy MGNREGA’: Why experts fear the worst from new job guarantee bill.The draft law dilutes several provisions of the bill that empowered rural labourers, they say..PowermovesTop 5 political storiesTN public universities face over 40% staff vacancies, RTI data shows RSS held 518 route marches in Karnataka, over 100 in Bengaluru The survival and stagecraft of S Jaishankar From Deadlock to Judicial Overreach: Supreme Court and Kerala VC Crisis Explained: The controversy over SPB statue unveiling at Hyderabad’s Ravindra Bharathi

MGNREGA revamp faces dissent from key BJP ally | Powertrip #130

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