Odisha Opposition Vows to Intensify Protests Against MMDR Amendment Act

BHUBANESWAR: The Congress and other members of the INDIA bloc on Tuesday announced that they would intensify their agitation demanding the withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act and gherao the Assembly on September 29. Addressing a rally in front of the Assembly on the day, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das, former CPI state secretary Ashis Kanungo and former CPM secretary Ali Kishore Patnaik alleged that the BJP’s double-engine government had betrayed the people of Odisha by failing to oppose the legislation, which they claimed was against the interests of the state. Alleging that the provisions of the Act were anti-Odisha, anti-people and unconstitutional, the leaders claimed that it undermined the constitutional and fiscal rights of mineral-bearing states. They alleged that the Act would restrict states from levying taxes on minerals and provide greater scope for corporates to exploit mineral resources. They described the legislation as a serious assault on the fiscal autonomy of states and claimed that Odisha would lose a substantial amount of revenue by being unable to collect arrears. They further alleged that the BJP government was conspiring to hand over Odisha’s natural resources to corporates for large-scale exploitation.