Odisha bandh by INDIA Bloc evokes mixed response

A dawn-to-dusk Odisha Bandh called by INDIA Bloc parties to protest the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, and demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over his involvement in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls evoked a mixed response on Thursday (October 8, 2026).

INDIA Bloc parties, including the Congress and Left parties, were seen enforcing the bandh on the streets of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Berhampur and all major district headquarters towns. The parties had made it clear that ambulances and students travelling for examinations would be kept out of the purview of the bandh.

However, business establishments remained closed along national and state highways and major arterial roads in the towns. There were no reports of violence, except for protesters halting passenger vehicles and enquiring about their destinations.

As long-distance buses were parked safely at bus terminals in view of the shutdown, passengers were seen waiting for the impact of the bandh to ease.

“The Odisha Bandh observed on October 8 received an unprecedented response across the State, with the constituent parties of the INDIA Bloc coming together in Bhubaneswar to stage a strong and united protest,” said Suresh Panigrahy, State secretary of the CPI(M).

Mr Panigrahy said the CEC must step down after massive irregularities in the SIR exercise came to light and the entire country stood up against the Election Commission of India, whose credibility, he said, was now at an all-time low.

“As far as Odisha is concerned, the MMDR Amendment Act has snatched away the State’s right to impose tax on mineral extraction from its land. It will badly hit the economy of a mineral-rich State like Odisha in the long run,” he pointed out.

Protesters also demanded the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Nityanand Gond over more than 1,700 errors detected in school textbooks prepared for Classes I to VIII. INDIA Bloc parties warned that their protest against alleged irregularities and what they described as anti-democratic steps by the BJP governments at the State and Centre would not end with the Odisha Bandh and would continue in the future.