New Delhi/Rayagada: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh Sunday attacked the BJP over the reported arrest of Niyamgiri movement leader Lada Sikaka, alleging that it was part of the so-called double-engine government’s strategy in Odisha to facilitate bauxite mining in violation of the 2013 Supreme Court judgment and the Forest Rights Act.
The former environment minister’s remarks came in response to a post on X questioning why Dongria Kandha leader Sikaka had been arrested.
This is undoubtedly part of the strategy of the so-called double-engine government in Odisha to give away bauxite mines in violation of the 2013 Supreme Court judgment as well as of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, Ramesh said in his post.
Many private companies including Modani are pushing for it, he said, in an apparent reference to the Adani Group.
The Congress and Left parties have also condemned the Odisha government over what they alleged was police brutality against tribals protesting against bauxite mining in the Sijimali area in Rayagada district and claimed that provisions of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act were being violated to benefit a private company.