Nepali Congress (NC), one of the major constituents of the seven party alliance (SPA) has appealed for wider public participation in the agitation programme scheduled for Thursday when the alliance plans a show of strength by attracting the maximum number of demonstrators along the 27-km Ring Road.

Interacting with journalists on Monday, NC Spokesman Krishna Prasad Sitaula said, “Our appeal is to all those people who belong to one association or another and have issued statements backing the current movement. They would do well to turn up flaunting their own banner on the appointed day.”

Sitaula also said that parties have made a strategy to bring at least one person from each family in the rally.

Urging civil servants to lock up their offices and join the demo, Sitaula also said that parties are requesting people from nearby villages to walk to the rally in Ring Road on that day.

An appeal has also been issued to transporters’ unions, airlines professionals including pilots and cabin crew working in the civil aviation sector, among others, asking them not to cooperate with the regime and thus contribute to the cause of restoring democracy.

Situala further said that parties would defy any measures taken by the government to foil Thursday’s rally.

In an attempt to foil the rally, the government issued a prohibitory order on Sunday banning protest, procession and sit-ins within Ring Road and 200 meters from the Ring Road.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the United Valley Mass Movement Committee (UVMMC), apart from issuing a call to all to take part in the Thursday’s demonstration on the Ring Road, has also urged the people to come out of their houses at 7 p.m. on Wednesday and raise slogans against regression for at least 10 minutes. nepalnews.com pb Apr 18 06