BJD to launch month-long Odisha padayatra against amended mining law

The BJD will launch a month-long public outreach campaign across Odisha from October 2 to press its demand for the repeal of the amended mining law recently passed by Parliament.

BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik will inaugurate the programme in Bhubaneswar on October 2, while party leaders and workers will visit villages and households across the state, the party said in a statement on Wednesday.

Addressing reporters, BJD senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said the Jana Samparka Padayatra would continue until November 2.

Mishra said party functionaries would visit every household to highlight what the BJD described as the failures of the BJP-led government. He alleged that the amended mining law had taken away Odisha's rights and denied the state its claimed Rs 1 lakh crore in arrears from mining companies.

He also alleged that farmers, young people, students, women, tribals, Dalits, minorities and other sections of society had been affected by what he termed the government's policies. He further claimed that incidents of violence against women were increasing amid a deterioration in the law-and-order situation.

Mishra alleged that the BJP-led Union government had weakened India's federal structure through the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, passed by Parliament in August, and had curtailed Odisha's economic rights.

He said people in the state were recalling Odisha's development during Naveen Patnaik's tenure as chief minister and claimed there was growing resentment against the BJP government.

According to Mishra, the padayatras will be held at the headquarters of all 34 BJD organisational districts as well as in every block. He said the party would continue raising issues affecting the people.

Under the amended mining law, the Centre seeks to assume control over the regulation of mineral-bearing land containing mineral deposits, based on parameters prescribed under the legislation.

Opposition parties in Odisha have alleged that the amended law takes away the rights of mineral-rich states and affects their financial autonomy.  (with inputs from PTI)