Bhubaneswar, Sept. 26 -- BJP leader Peeyush Mohanty defended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act amid ongoing opposition protests in Odisha, alleging that the previous BJD government under Naveen Patnaik had failed to act despite being aware of a massive mining scam in the state.

Responding to a question on the opposition's disruption of proceedings and the ongoing protests over the MMDR Act, Mohanty said, "You first need to understand where the MMDR Act applies and where it starts. You might remember that in 2013, during the UPA government, a committee was formed by the Justice M.B. Shah Commission, which in 2014, the report was presented in Parliament, which reported the biggest mining loot in India in Odisha...