BHUBANESWAR: The INDIA bloc on Tuesday called for an Odisha bandh on October 8 over three demands: immediate withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026; resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over errors in school textbooks; and resignation and arrest of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Announcing the bandh while addressing a demonstration by INDIA bloc members near Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s official residence, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das said Congress and its allies would ensure that the bandh was observed peacefully across the state.
The INDIA bloc had originally planned to gherao the Assembly on Tuesday but changed its plan after the monsoon session was adjourned sine die on Monday. Hundreds of workers and leaders of the CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Forward Bloc, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Janata Dal took part in the demonstration.
The protesters clashed with security personnel after police stopped them from marching towards the chief minister’s residence.
Targeting the state government for adjourning the Assembly without answering questions on the MMDR Bill and alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise, Das said the government could not ignore questions raised by the people.
Das also announced that the INDIA bloc would organise a demonstration in mineral-rich Keonjhar district on October 7 against the new mining law.
He said Odisha would lose around Rs 1 lakh crore and Rs 12,000 crore annually following implementation of the new mining law. He also said rallies and economic blockades would be organised across key mining belts on October 8 to halt mineral extraction and transportation.
Addressing the demonstration, CPI(M) state secretary Suresh Chandra Panigrahy said the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026, would affect the rights and economic interests of mineral-rich states such as Odisha.
"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," he added.
