Agra, Feb 6 (IANS): Hundreds of shop-keepers of the Sanjay Place commercial complex in the heart of the city, have been on strike for over 20 days protesting high-handedness by officials of the Agra Municipal Corporation.

At the centre of the stand-off is the forced collection of parking fees by the Corporation. The shop-keepers' stand is that parking should be free, as was in the original contract with the Agra Development Authority (ADA).

Viren Agarwal, spearheading the agitation, told IANS that there was no provision of collecting parking fees from customers who visited their shops. The dispute is pending in the local court.

Municipal commissioner Arun Prakash and the Mayor Navin Jain had two months ago promised that parking fees would not be collected but on second thought the Corporation decided to auction away parking areas, to add to the revenue.

Each day the protesters have been coming up with new ideas to draw attention to their demands. Two days back, they brought donkeys to protest, yesterday eunuchs joined them, today Gandhi's three monkeys were on show with placards.

The president of the Sanjay Place Welfare Association, KN Agnihotri said their fight will continue on Gandhian lines and the businessmen will eventually win.

While the ruling BJP leaders have been avoiding the protesters and refusing to commit themselves, the leaders of the opposition parties including the Congress have thrown weight behind the movement launched by over a thousand shop keepers.

Chaturbhuj Tiwari, a computer shop owner said "if our customers are forced to pay exorbitant parking fees, who will come to our shops."

The prestigious Sanjay Place commercial complex was developed during the emergency on a site which was the central jail then. The jail on instructions from Sanjay Gandhi was shifted outside the city.