The Hindu : New Delhi News : Youth Congress protests against House boycott

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

Youth Congress protests against House boycott

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Indian Youth Congress on Monday took out a "silent march" in the Capital to protest against the National Democratic Alliance (NDA)'s continued boycott of the Parliamentary proceedings and the alleged use of unparliamentary language against senior Congress leaders.

Led by the All-India Congress Committee general secretary, Ashok Gehlot, the Union Minister of State for Statistics and Programme Implementation, Oscar Fernandes, the IYC chief, Ashok Tanwar, and the Delhi Congress chief, Ram Babu Sharma, a large number activists marched from the IYC headquarters to Jantar Mantar carrying placards and banners condemning the NDA for its boycott of the Parliamentary proceedings. Wearing black bands, protesters carried banners urging the Opposition to fulfil its constitutional duties.

Earlier addressing protesters before the start of the march, Mr. Gehlot hoped that the march would help convey the sentiments of youths to those disrupting Parliament and the masses. Any protest should just be symbolic and not affect the day-to-day functioning of the Government, causing loss of public money, he said, and asked the NDA to end the boycott.

The All India Women Congress president, Rita Bahuguna Joshi, in her address, dubbed the march as "historic'' and urged that the temple of democracy -- Parliament -- should be respected. She blamed the Opposition for avoiding the House on one pretext or the other.

Later talking to media persons on the culmination of the march, Mr. Tanwar regretted that the ongoing boycott had stalled the passing of number of important bills.

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