Led by Congress, Opposition partiesstage protest outside Parliament

NEW DELHI: Opposition parties led by the Congress today staged a protest near the Gandhi statue outside Parliament over several issues, including disruption of proceedings of both the Houses and Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were among the key leaders who took part in the protest.

Leaders of the TMC and the CPI(M) also took part in the demonstration.Congress general secretary K C Venugopal, one of the protesters, accused the government of mocking the functioning of Parliament and not holding discussions on key issues.

The protest came after MPs of the ruling NDA yesterday decided to forego their salaries for the 23 days of the ongoing Budget Session when Parliament did not function because of protests by the Congress and other political parties.