MEERUT: Hundreds gathered for the "mahapanchayat" called by embattled Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA from Sardhana, Atul Pradhan, who's been on a hunger strike for the past week against the private hospitals' "inflated bills and hefty consultation fees".
To lend support to the cause, the state president of SP, Naresh Uttam Patel, reached Meerut and appealed to Pradhan to call off the hunger strike. This comes two days after farmer leader Rakesh Tikait made a similar appeal.