Thursday, March 3 2005 13:04 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Nearly two-dozen Congress MPs, led by Rahul Gandhi, today (Mar 3, 2005) staged a sit-in outside Parliament protesting repeated adjournments of both Houses by the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party)-led NDA (National Democratic Alliance).

Rahul appealed to the Opposition to debate any issue it wanted in the House instead of disrupting proceedings.

"We have come here to learn (from debates) but that is not being allowed," Rahul told reporters and appealed to the Opposition not to "disrupt and destroy the Parliamentary process".

Describing repeated adjournments as "a gross wastage of time and money", he said, "the temple of democracy should not be desecrated" by such disruptions.

He said it was a "gross wastage" that an estimated Rs 52 crore had been spent on adjournments over the last two days.