Below the Line

The renaming of MGNREGA to Pujya Bapu Gramin Rozgar Guarantee Yojna has mystified political observers, outraged the Congress and spurred waves of mirth and satire on social media. Exactly why ‘Pujya Bapu’ was preferred over ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ is not known. Some in social media are speculating that it might be a reference to a spiritual guru in Gujarat. Congress MP Rajiv Shukla pointed out that a lot of people in Gujarat are referred to as ‘Bapu’ whereas there is only one ‘Mahatma Gandhi’; Priyanka Gandhi questioned the need for the new name. “It is Mahatma Gandhi, where’s the need for renaming, not to mention the additional waste of resources that accompanies a change in name,” she said. TMC MP Sagarika Ghose informed the title ‘Mahatma’ was bestowed on Gandhi by Rabindranath Tagore. She con