MEERUT, Sept. 21 -- Scores of advocates, traders, political leaders and social organisations took to the streets in Meerut on Saturday over the long-standing demand for a high court bench in western Uttar Pradesh. Responding to the call of the Central Struggle Committee, which has vowed to transform the movement into a mass agitation, demonstrators staged a march from the Meerut Bar Association office to Begumpul, where they raised slogans for nearly two hours and blocked the intersection by forming a human chain. MLC Dharmendra Bhardwaj and mayor Harikant Ahluwalia also joined the protest at the last moment, assuring participants that the party supports the demand. and Saturday's protest was part of that strategy. In all 22 districts of western UP, advocates boycotted judicial work and staged demonstrations at major intersections and public places. In Meerut, the lawyers assembled at the Nanak Chand Auditorium in the morning, with all shops and chambers inside the court complex shut in solidarity. Around 11 am, a large number of advocates carrying banners and placards marched from the court premises, shouting slogans along the way. Congress district president Gaurav Bhati, along with several party leaders and workers, joined the procession which converged at Begumpul. SP MLA Atul Pradhan and district president Vipin Chaudhary, BSP representatives, Safai Mazdoor Union members, Azad Adhikar Sena, Meerut College Students' Union and several other groups joined the protest....