NCP to raise UNI sale in Parliament

New Delhi, Nov 17 (UNI) The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) today said it would raise in the winter session of Parliament beginning next week the sale of majority stake in United News of India(UNI) to a media house.

Expressing ''solidarity'' with the agitating employees, NCP general secretary Devi Prasad Tripathi said all political parties ''cutting across affiliations had come to the support of the ongoing protests'' because the issue ''related to freedom of the press'' and ''assault'' on a democratic institution.

He condemned the alleged ''victimisation of employees'' protesting against the sale by the management and said his party would also take up with the Maharashtra government the 'illegal'' confinement of some UNI employees in Mumbai office and ''malafide'' transfer of a union leader.

He said the management was employing ''obsolete'' methods to ''harass workers by way of suspending the leaders.'' UNI KSA/FZ RP HS1607