Odisha Assembly adjourned twice as opposition protests over mining law, textbook errors
The Odisha Assembly's Monsoon Session began on Tuesday amid pandemonium as opposition members stormed the well of the House over the amended mining law and errors in new textbooks for school children, forcing adjournment of proceedings twice.
Proceedings were initially adjourned till 1.30 pm. When the House reassembled, opposition MLAs refused to return to their seats, and Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi announced adjournment till 4 pm.
The session began with obituary references to six former members of the Assembly and those killed in the Nepal flash floods.
Soon after, BJD and Congress MLAs trooped into the well, shouting slogans against the BJP government over the recent passage of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, in Parliament and errors in textbooks for school children.
While the BJD MLAs protested against errors in school textbooks, the Congress members demanded repeal of the MMDR Amendment Act. BJD members raised slogans demanding School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond's resignation over the textbook issue.
Amid the din, Speaker Surama Padhy appealed to the MLAs to return to their seats, but in vain. The Speaker then adjourned the proceedings till 1.10 pm.
After the adjournment, the BJD MLAs reached the Mahatma Gandhi Marg where the party's youth and student wing members are staging an 'Assembly Gherao' agitation.
"We joined the agitation demanding Gond's resignation over errors in textbooks. The minister must be held accountable for the distribution of the error-ridden books to school children," said Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik.
When the House reassembled at 1.10 pm, opposition members refused to return to their seats. Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi announced adjournment of the proceedings till 4 pm.
BJP MLA Irasish Acharya, however, criticised the opposition for disrupting the proceedings. "The government has taken action in the textbook error matter. The corrected books are being distributed. They create noise without any justified reason," he said.
Earlier on the day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi moved condolence resolutions expressing grief over the demise of former ministers Dambaru Majhi and Sushant Singh, former chief whip Satya Bhushan Sahu, and former members Ramamurti Gamango, Haji Mohammad Ayub Khan, and Shivaji Majhi.
He also moved a resolution mourning the loss of life in recent catastrophic floods across Nepal and parts of India.
Leader of Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Congress Legislature Party Leader Ramachandra Kadam, and CPIM leader Laxman Munda also expressed condolences. Speaker Padhy offered heartfelt condolences, and the House observed a one-minute silence in honour of the departed souls.
The nine-day Monsoon Session of the Assembly, scheduled to run until October 3, is expected to see the introduction of six key bills.
