Bengaluru, Jan 10 : Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy on Saturday accused the Congress of creating a false narrative about the VB G-RAM-G scheme and challenged Congress leaders in Karnataka to an open public debate with documents to expose what he called their lies.

It may be noted that Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress President D.K. Shivakumar had challenged BJP and JD(S) leaders over the scrapping of MGNREGA and the introduction of G-RAM-G by the Centre.

Responding to Union Minister H.D. Kumaraswamyâ??s invitation to discuss the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, â??We are ready for the discussion and, if needed, will launch a major agitation.â??

The Union Minister addressed a joint press conference in Bengaluru along with Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka and BJP state President B.Y. Vijayendra on the G-RAM-G scheme.

Expressing strong anger over what he termed misinformation being spread by the Congress about the scheme conceptualised under PM Modiâ??s leadership, Kumaraswamy said, â??The time when people blindly believed Congressâ?? lies is over.â??

Kumaraswamy said the Congress ruled the country for decades. â??Did they ever name any major scheme after Mahatma Gandhi? They named everything after members of the Nehru family and betrayed Gandhiji. They have no moral right to speak about Gandhi,â?? he said.

Kumaraswamy demanded an open debate on G-RAM-G. â??We are not running away. You claim Panchayats are being wronged, but you are postponing elections. Shame on you. You are trying to destroy the good atmosphere in the State,â?? he said.

He recalled that when he was Chief Minister, Rs 800 crore in MGNREGA funds was delayed, and he paid wages from the state treasury first. â??The present Revenue Minister was Rural Development Minister in my Cabinet. This government doesnâ??t even know how to deal with the Centre,â?? he criticised.

â??We invoke Lord Ramâ??s name to establish Ram Rajya. The state government must take responsibility and contribute 40 per cent for this scheme. Siddaramaiah must own this responsibility,â?? he asserted.

Criticising the Congress sharply, he said, â??As if spreading propaganda outside wasnâ??t enough, they are now calling Assembly sessions and even planning padayatras. For what heroism? Was looting public money by creating fake bills under MGNREGA not enough?â??

He questioned whether poor daily-wage workers ever received justice under Congress rule. â??Why did they fail to stop fake bills and identify fake job cards? What were they doing all these years?â?? he asked.

Kumaraswamy clarified that MGNREGA has not been stopped. â??The Modi government has corrected long-pending irregularities and introduced major reforms. Congress leaders now claim that fixing loopholes is wrong. How absurd,â?? he said.

He stressed that the G-RAM-G scheme will not reduce the powers of Gram Panchayats or state governments.

Kumaraswamy stated that the entire funding comes from the Central government, but the state government has failed to utilise it properly. â??There is no transparency. Fake bills were created and money was looted. That is why we corrected old mistakes and brought a new structure,â?? he explained.

He accused the Congress of using Gandhijiâ??s name only for elections and votes. â??When Congress was in power, they reduced the budget of this very scheme and even stopped workersâ?? wages. Today, under PM Modi, every rupee reaches workersâ?? bank accounts directly and Congress cannot tolerate it,â?? he said.

He added that the new scheme gives more power to Gram Panchayats, where local bodies will design projects and Gram Sabhas will decide priorities, monitor implementation and conduct mandatory social audits to ensure transparency. â??This level of transparency is what Congress does not want,â?? he alleged.

Kumaraswamy said the scheme follows a 60:40 funding pattern. â??To ensure accountability of state governments, 40 per cent contribution is mandated. We have not taken away their powers. The state must understand its responsibility,â?? he asserted.

He dismissed KPCC President Shivakumarâ??s claim that Union Minister Prahlad Joshi said Rs 11 lakh crore was misappropriated. â??What Joshi actually referred to was irregularities in social audit units. Rs 11 lakh crore is total expenditure, not misappropriation. Our Deputy CM may be confused,â?? Kumaraswamy said.

Kumaraswamy said MGNREGA was introduced by the Congress in 2005 with good intent. â??I never said the scheme is wrong. It helped rural workers. But later, Congress ruined it through massive corruption. They failed to fix errors when they were in power. Now PM Modi has corrected everything. Congress should accept this honestly,â?? he said.

Referring to an incident in Koppal when Siddaramaiah was Chief Minister, Kumaraswamy said, â??Workers demanding wages were lathi-charged. They were taken in tractors promising payment, which met with an accident, killing some labourers. Later, it was found many had no job cards, and cards were issued even to people aged 65-80. Despite such fraud, Congress says fixing it is wrong.â??

Youth JD(S) President Nikhil Kumaraswamy, JD(S) Legislature Party Leader C.B. Suresh Babu, Legislative Council Opposition Leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy, former Minister Venkatarava Nadagouda, former MLCs K.A. Tippeswamy, Ashwath Narayan, Chowda Reddy Thupalli and others were present at the press conference.

/IANS