New Delhi, July 29 2010: The main opposition BJP and the Left parties have planned to intensify their protests against the Congress-led UPA government over the issue of rising prices. MPs from Left parties will stage a sit-in at the main gate of Parliament House today.

D Raja, CPI National Secretary, declared, "As Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar rejected Opposition's demand for holding a discussion on price rise under rules which entail voting, the Left parties decided to carry on our struggle by holding a dharna inside the Parliament precincts."

Both Raja and CPI (M) leader Basudeb Acharia said they will hold the sit-in inside Parliament precincts as "we do not want to hold up the proceedings of the House". Raja said, "We don't agree with the Speaker's ruling. The government should accept its lapses and failures (in checking the rising prices) and come forward with adequate steps to control prices".

According to reports, senior BJP leaders, including L K Advani, Nitin Gadkari and Sushma Swaraj, will lead a protest march to the Rashtrapati Bhawan and hand over a memorandum to President Pratibha Patil over the issue. The BJP leaders will also hand over 10 crore signatures collected from common people over the last few months against rising prices.