Starting the Yatra from the BJP office in Sector 33, the BJYM workers under the leadership of their president Satinder Singh held public meetings at Colony no 5 and Ram Durbar on the first day on Friday, at Manimajra on Saturday and at Mauli Jagran today. Among those who spoke included former local MP Satya Pal Jain, BJP local president Dharam Paul Gupta, former mayor Gian Chand Gupta, Jai Ram Joshi, Shakti Prakash Devshali and Sanjeev Chadha. Among others who addressed the yatra included Purshottam Mahajan, Jarnail Singh Bajwa, Rajesh Pathania, Shashi Shankar Tewari, Shambhu Bannerjee and Hari Shankar Mishra.

`Withdraw levy'
The decision of the UT Administration to hike sales tax on petrol and diesel products from the previous 0.5 per cent to 5.5 per cent has been criticised by various organisations here. In a press statement issued here, president of the local unit of Samajvadi Party, Shivi Jaiswal, strongly condemned the action of the Administration and demanded an inquiry into the decision.

General secretary of the Traders' Association also came down heavily upon the Administration and appealed to the traders of the city to come together and impress upon the government to withdraw the levy. He also stated that the Administration should act fast to avoid any agitation in this regard.

Federation of Small-Scale Industries has also criticised the action and stated that it will directly hit the local industry, which is already passing through a period of recession. In a statement issued here, Yash Pal Mahajan, president of the federation, demanded immediate withdrawal of the tax with a view to provide relief to the local industry.