India, Dec. 15 -- Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday described the controversy surrounding the renaming of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) as "unfortunate", as the Congress and other Opposition parties hardened their stance against the move during the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament.

The Centre has proposed renaming MGNREGA as the Viksit Bharat Guarantee For Rozgar And Ajeevika Mission (Grameen), abbreviated as VB G RAM G, an acronym that includes the word "Ram".

In a post on X, Tharoor said the ideals of Gram Swaraj and Ram Rajya were never in conflict. "They were the twin pillars of Gandhiji's consciousness," he wrote. "Replacing the Mahatma's name in a scheme for the rural poor i...