Police stop BJD supporters during a protest rally outside the Odisha Assembly (OLA) against the MMDR Amendment (Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 2026 and demands the withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act over Odisha mining rights, in Bhubaneswar on September 28, 2026.
| Photo Credit: ANI
The INDIA bloc on Tuesday (September 29, 2026) announced an Odisha bandh on October 8, 2026, to demand the repeal of the new mining law and two other issues, as members of the alliance staged a demonstration near Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s residence in Bhubaneswar.
Hundreds of workers and leaders of bloc partners, including the Congress, the CPI(M), the CPI, the CPI(ML) Liberation, the Forward Bloc, the NCP, the Samajwadi Party and the RJD, took part in the rally.
The protesters had earlier planned to gherao the Assembly but shifted their focus to the Chief Minister’s residence after the Monsoon Session was adjourned sine die a day earlier, on Monday (September 28, 2026).
“The BJP government adjourned the Assembly sine die instead of answering our questions on the MMDR Bill, ‘vote chori’ and CEC Gyanesh Kumar. But they can’t adjourn the people’s questions. We are staging agitation before the CM’s residence,” Bhakta Charan Das, president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, said.
The protesters clashed with security personnel after the police stopped them from marching towards the Chief Minister’s residence. Some supporters broke through the barricades and courted arrest, while several others were taken into custody for allegedly violating the law, a senior police officer said.
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Addressing the gathering, Mr. Das announced the statewide bandh for October 8, 2026, and appealed to people to join it. The demands include the repeal of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Amendment Act, 2026; the resignation of Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over alleged errors in school textbooks; and the resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Mr. Das said the Congress and its INDIA bloc partners would ensure that the bandh was observed peacefully across the State. The bloc will also hold a demonstration in mineral-rich Keonjhar district on October 7, 2026, against the new mining law, he said.
The bloc claimed that Odisha would lose about ₹1 lakh crore and ₹12,000 crore annually after the new mining law is implemented. It said rallies and economic blockades would be organised across key mining belts on October 8, 2026, to halt mineral extraction and transportation.
The alliance alleged that the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026, would affect the rights and economic interests of mineral-rich States such as Odisha. The protesters also demanded protection of water, forests and land, tribal rights, and the livelihoods and rights of mine workers and local residents in mining areas.
“The principal demands of the protest are repeal of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026, protection of Odisha’s mineral rights and financial autonomy, and safeguarding the State’s mineral resources from corporate plunder,” Suresh Chandra Panigrahy, Odisha State secretary of the CPI(M), said.
State BJP president Manmohan Samal criticised the Congress, alleging that the party had a habit of opposing government initiatives. “They were opposing GST, mining reforms also. The Congress has lost its identity among the people,” Mr. Samal said.
BJP general secretary Biranchi Narayan Tripathy also attacked the Congress. “Earlier the mines were being distributed among Congress leaders and their families. As PM Narendra Modi stopped it, the Congress is raising its voice to protect the interest of their leaders,” he said.
Published – September 29, 2026 04:47 pm IST
