Bhubaneswar: Odisha Assembly witnessed noisy scenes for the fifth consecutive working day Monday as Opposition BJD and Congress MLAs staged protests against the MMDR Act, prompting the adjournment of the proceedings till 4 pm.
As soon as the House assembled for Question Hour at 10.30 am, the opposition MLAs, holding placards and wearing black scarves as a mark of protest, trooped into the well of the House, raising slogans against the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026.
Terming the new mining law as “anti-Odisha” and “anti-tribal”, they demanded that it be repealed.
As Speaker Surama Padhy allowed Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling to reply to a question, the opposition members intensified their stir.
While some agitating members were seen standing on the reporters’ table, another section raised slogans close to the Speaker’s podium.
Padhy’s repeated appeals to the opposition members yielded no result, following which she adjourned the proceedings till 11.30 am after only seven minutes of functioning.
The House was scheduled to discuss questions related to Health and Family Welfare, Home, Parliamentary Affairs, Finance, General Administration and Public Grievances, and Electronics and Information Technology departments.
When the House reassembled at 11.30 am, similar scenes prevailed, but the Speaker allowed Zero Hour discussions amid protest in the well.
Later, BJD lawmakers staged a walkout from the House and joined the party’s protest rally being held outside the assembly demanding the repeal of the MMDR Act. Congress MLAs, on the other hand, continued their protest in the well while the Speaker conducted the Zero Hour business amid the din.
However, as the protests continued, the Speaker adjourned the House till 4 pm after around half-an-hour of functioning.
The political standoff between the ruling BJP and opposition BJD and Congress continued from day one of the monsoon session of the assembly on September 22.
While opposition parties claim that Odisha would lose over Rs 1 lakh crore in revenue if the MMDR Act is implemented in the state, ruling BJP lawmakers reject the claim and assert that the state would rather gain from the new mining law.
However, in a recent reply in the assembly, Odisha’s Steel and Mines Minister B B Jena said the government has not yet assessed whether the state would gain or lose because of the new mining law.
The minister, however, assured the House that Odisha’s interests would be protected.
Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik of the BJD came down heavily on the BJP government and said that the Naveen Patnaik-led party would continue to agitate, demanding repeal of the new mining law.
“We will protect the interests of the state and not listen to the ‘fake glorification’ by the BJP government. The Centre has snatched the state’s rights over mineral land through this new law,” Mallik said.
Senior Congress lawmaker Taraprasad Bahinipati said his party has been opposing the new mining law both inside and outside the assembly.
“Let the chief minister assure this House that the legislation would not cause any financial loss to the state and deprive its rights over mineral-bearing lands. Also, we demand that a resolution be passed in the assembly against the implementation of the MMDR Act in Odisha. The new mining law is against the state and its people,” Bahinipati added.
Parliament passed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026, in August. The legislation seeks to restrict states’ powers to levy taxes on mineral rights and mineral-bearing lands.
PTI
