BHUBANESWAR: The MMDR Amendment Act, 2026, is set to dominate the upcoming Odisha Assembly session, with the Opposition BJD and Congress planning to corner the state government over the legislation and its alleged financial implications for Odisha.
The Assembly session, scheduled to commence on September 22 (Tuesday), is likely to be stormy over the amendment, with the BJD questioning the state government’s stand on mining-related arrears and seeking an explanation over what it described as a discrepancy between advocate general Pitambar Acharya’s affidavit in the Supreme Court and the government’s latest position.
Deputy leader of the BJD Legislature Party Prasanna Acharya said the party would raise the issue from the beginning of the session. He alleged that BJP MPs from Odisha supported the amendment despite being aware that the state could lose nearly Rs 1 lakh crore in mining-related arrears.
Acharya said the advocate general had stated in his affidavit before the Supreme Court that Odisha was to receive around Rs 1 lakh crore towards mining arrears, besides an additional Rs 12,000 crore annually as revenue. “But the state is now going to lose,” he alleged. The BJD will seek an explanation from the government on the change in its position, he said.
The party will also raise other issues, including textbook errors and demand the resignation of School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond. Law and order, agrarian distress, women’s safety and protection of tribal rights are also likely to figure prominently in the Opposition’s agenda.
The Congress is also set to target the government over the MMDR amendment. CLP leader Ramachandra Kadam said the legislation, textbook errors and law and order would be among the main issues to be raised by Congress MLAs during the short session. The legislature parties of both the Opposition parties would meet a day ahead of the session to set the agenda.
The ruling BJP, meanwhile, has maintained that it is ready to face the questions raised by the Opposition. The BJP Legislature Party, headed by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, will meet on Monday to finalise the issues to be taken up during the session.
