Left Parties Announce Statewide Agitation Against MMDR Amendment Bill

Bill Copies to Be Burnt Across Jharkhand from August 25 to 31

Ranchi: Six Left parties in Jharkhand—CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, SUCI(C), Forward Bloc and RSP—have announced a statewide campaign against the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026.

The decision was taken at a joint meeting of the Left parties held at the CPI(M) state office on Wednesday. The parties decided to burn copies of the Bill at blocks, panchayats and urban local bodies across all districts of Jharkhand from August 25 to 31. Street-corner meetings will also be organised at public places as part of the campaign.

In Ranchi, the Left parties will hold a demonstration in front of Lok Bhavan and submit a memorandum to the President through the Governor. They said that in the next phase of the agitation, other secular political parties and mass organisations would be brought together for demonstrations and gherao of Central government establishments. A Jharkhand bandh may also be announced subsequently.

The Left parties alleged that the Bill was passed in both Houses of Parliament without adequate discussion and described it as an attack on the rights of the states. They claimed that if enacted, the legislation could cause mineral-rich states such as Jharkhand an annual loss of around Rs 13,000 crore. They also warned that the shortage of funds could adversely affect several social security schemes and may force the government to discontinue some of them.

The meeting was chaired by CPI(ML) Liberation state secretary Manoj Bhakta. CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak, Ashok Yadav, CPI(M) state secretary Prakash Viplav, Praful Linda, Sameer Das, Sukhnath Lohra, Amal Azad, Bina, CPI(ML) Liberation leaders Shubhendu Sen and Sudama Khalkho, and SUCI(C) leaders Mintu Paswan and Dilip Kumar, among others, attended the meeting.