Shimla, Jan. 31 -- The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee on Friday observed a two-hour symbolic fast at the historic Ridge ground in Shimla on the occasion of Martyrs' Day, demanding the restoration of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in its original form and the withdrawal of the the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) scheme. Speaking to the media, chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, "MGNREGA was the only scheme that generated employment opportunities during the Covid-19 period. The BJP government has finished MGNREGA. By finishing, I mean that while the name has been changed, its soul has been completely destroyed." He added that panchayat representatives no longer have the powers they earlier enjoyed. He added, "The BJP government has struck at the livelihood of rural youth, labourers, the poor and women who sustained their families through MGNREGA. Even elderly villagers who depended on this work have been hit," Sukhu said. AICC in-charge and MP Rajani Patil said the party had decided to hold a nationwide agitation from January 15 to February 5. Patil said, "MGNREGA, which was the dream of Sonia Gandhi and Dr Manmohan Singh to guarantee work to the poorest, is being dismantled," she said. She added that the symbolic fast at Gandhi's statue reflected Mahatma Gandhi's ideals of truth and his call to "go to the villages." Former chief minister and Leader of the Opposition, Jai Ram Thakur, criticized the Congress government in a statement issued in Shimla, and said the Sukhu government's fast in protest against the Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) is merely a "political gimmick to appease its high command". He said that this new law of the central government is a milestone in bringing transparency and eliminating corruption, with digitization and biometric attendance leaving no room for middlemen. "Corruption will be completely eradicated, and rural development will accelerate if work is done with transparency," said Thakur. He accused the CM of adopting double standards, saying that on one hand he talks about the rights of village heads, while on the other, under the guise of the Disaster Act, he has stopped Panchayat elections and handed them over to administrators. "Work has stalled everywhere, and the Panchayati Raj System, considered the village government, has been marginalized and reduced to a mere handing out of arbitrary orders. These actions of the Congress-led Sukhu government clearly show that the Sukhu government is shedding crocodile tears in the name of MGNREGA", Thakur added. Former Union minister and BJP MP from Hamirpur, Anurag Thakur, while addressing public meetings in Jandaura and Chintpurni in the Jaswan-Pragpur assembly constituency on Friday, described the Viksit Bharat - Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin), or VB-G RAM G), as a visionary and transformative vision of the Modi government. He said that this initiative is a historic step towards empowering workers' welfare, rural employment, and the rural economy. Thakur said that the central government is implementing comprehensive reforms in MGNREGA, transforming it into the VB-G RAM G. In this regard, the BJP is conducting a nationwide campaign to inform the general public about the benefits of this new law. As part of this campaign, he apprised the villagers at both polling booths in the Lalsingi area of the district headquarters and at the Arniyala village centre about the features of the new Act....