The Odisha Congress has demanded a two‑day Special Session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly to deliberate on the recently enacted Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026 (MMDR‑2026), which the party has branded a “Dark Act.”
A delegation of Congress MLAs led by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam met Governor Dr Hari Babu Kambhampat at Lok Bhavan and submitted a memorandum seeking his intervention.
In a letter to the Governor, Kadam argued that the new central legislation strikes at the foundation of cooperative federalism, bypasses state legislative competence, and strips Odisha of its fiscal autonomy and constitutional protections.
The CLP alleged that the Act usurps Odisha’s sovereign rights over its mineral wealth, consolidating allocation, revenue control and lease renewals into federal hands. It further claimed that the law bypasses the mandatory constitutional requirement of Gram Sabha and Tribal Advisory Council consent in Fifth Schedule areas.
Congress urged the Governor to immediately summon a Special Assembly Session to discuss the Act’s implications on tribal communities, fiscal autonomy and constitutional rights.
The party reiterated that Odisha, as a mineral‑rich state, faces a grave threat to its federal rights and called for collective legislative scrutiny of the new law.
