Bhubaneswar: Opposition members on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over errors in newly distributed school textbooks, while Congress MLAs protested against the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, disrupting proceedings of the Assembly on the opening day of its Monsoon Session.
BJD and Congress MLAs trooped into the Well of the House and raised slogans against the BJP government over the textbook errors and the recent passage of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, in Parliament.
The protests forced Speaker Surama Padhy to adjourn the proceedings twice, first till 1.10 pm and later till 4 pm, as the Opposition members refused to return to their seats.
The session began with an obituary reference to six former members of the Assembly and those killed in the flash floods in Nepal.
Soon after the House resumed its proceedings, BJD and Congress members entered the Well and raised slogans over the two issues.
While the BJD MLAs protested against errors in school textbooks and demanded accountability from the government, Congress members sought the repeal of the MMDR Amendment Act.
Amid the din, the Speaker appealed to the protesting members to return to their seats and allow the House to function. However, the appeals failed to pacify the Opposition members, following which the proceedings were adjourned.
After the adjournment, BJD MLAs reached Mahatma Gandhi Marg, where the party’s youth and student wings were staging an ‘Assembly Gherao’ agitation over the textbook errors.
“We will join the agitation demanding resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityananda Gond over the textbook errors. The minister must be held accountable for the distribution of the error-ridden books to schoolchildren,” Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik said.
BJP MLA Irasish Acharya criticised the Opposition for disrupting the proceedings of the House.
“The government has taken action in the textbook error matter. The corrected books are being distributed. They create noise without any justified reason,” Acharya said.
The nine-day Monsoon Session of the Assembly is scheduled to continue until October 3. Six key bills are expected to be introduced during the session.
