BHUBANESWAR: Stepping up its pressure on the BJP government over the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026, the BJD on Monday threatened to launch an economic blockade in the state if the legislation is not withdrawn immediately.
Addressing a media-conference here, BJD MLA and former minister Arun Kumar Sahoo announced that as part of the agitation, party workers will stop mining operations and transportation of minerals. The blockade will be extended to other spheres in phases, if the Act is not withdrawn, he said.
The BJD leader criticised Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi for his silence over the letter of leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik urging him to convene a special session of the Assembly and an all-party meeting to discuss the issue. Alleging that ownership of mines has been taken away from the states through the amendment, Sahoo accused the Centre of working for benefit of mine owners.
Referring to the Supreme Court judgement, Sahoo said Odisha would have received more than Rs 1 lakh crore towards outstanding taxes to be collected from the mining sector along with an annual revenue of Rs 12,000 crore from the mines. But the state BJP government is silently supporting such a huge financial loss to Odisha, he alleged.
However, senior BJP leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik dismissed BJD’s claims as a desperate bid to extract political mileage by misleading people after ruling the state for 24 years.
Patnaik said an economic blockade would only harm Odisha’s economic interests. Defending the amendments, he said while there might be short-term adjustments, the policy will yield long-term gains, stabilise taxes, attract more industrialists through transparent auctions and inject massive momentum into the state’s economy.
