Bhubaneswar, September 22: The opening day of the Monsoon Session of the Odisha Assembly was disrupted on Monday as Opposition BJD and Congress members protested the amended mining law and errors in newly distributed school textbooks, forcing the House to adjourn twice.
The proceedings were first adjourned until 1.10 p.m. after BJD and Congress legislators entered the well of the House and raised slogans over the issues.
When the Assembly reconvened, the Opposition members continued their protest and refused to return to their seats. Deputy Speaker Bhabani Shankar Bhoi subsequently adjourned the proceedings until 4 p.m.
The session began with obituary references to six former members of the Assembly as well as people who lost their lives in the recent flash floods in Nepal.
Soon after, BJD and Congress legislators trooped into the well, protesting against the BJP-led state government over Parliament's recent passage of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, and errors found in school textbooks.
While BJD MLAs focused their protest on the textbook errors, Congress legislators demanded the repeal of the MMDR Amendment Act. BJD members also raised slogans demanding the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over the textbook issue.
Speaker Surama Padhy appealed to the protesting legislators to return to their seats and allow the House to function, but the protests continued, prompting her to adjourn the proceedings.
Following the adjournment, BJD MLAs joined a protest by the party's youth and student wings on Mahatma Gandhi Marg as part of 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," Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik said.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA Irasish Acharya criticised the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings, saying the government had already taken corrective measures over the textbook issue.
"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, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi moved condolence resolutions mourning the deaths of former ministers Dambaru Majhi and Sushant Singh, former Chief Whip Satya Bhushan Sahu, and former legislators Ramamurti Gamango, Haji Mohammad Ayub Khan and Shivaji Majhi.
The Chief Minister also moved a resolution expressing grief over the loss of lives in the recent catastrophic floods in Nepal and parts of India.
Leader of Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik, Congress Legislature Party leader Ramachandra Kadam and CPI(M) leader Laxman Munda joined in expressing condolences.
Speaker Surama Padhy also conveyed her condolences, following which the House observed a one-minute silence in honour of the departed.
