Truckers’ stir: Cong wants PM to step in

The Congress today sought Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s intervention for ending the transporters’ strike. ‘‘We are surp...

The Congress today sought Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee’s intervention for ending the transporters’ strike. ‘‘We are surprised at the casual attitude of the Government. The strike had hurt the economy of the country and led to steep increase in prices of all essential products,’’ party spokesperson Jaipal Reddy said.

‘‘We urge the Prime Minister to personally intervene and see that the strike is brought to an end,’’ he said.

The BJP has also taken an informal initiative to find a solution to the ongoing trucker’s strike. Sources disclosed here today that party

chief M. Venkaiah Naidu, who met Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani and Finance Minister Jaswant Singh, last night, had requested them to constitute a ministerial committee to look into the demands of truckers and also convene a meeting of the Centre and the states to jointly look into the problems of the truckers.

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Naidu, who had also invited All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) president B.N. Dhumal and general secretary J.M. Saksena for talks, felt that some of the demands were based on hypothesis, while some others required only a uniformity of rules and regulations. For example, the demand pertaining to the condemned vehicles, exceeding 15 years of age, was based on hypothesis. ‘‘They have not been banned,’’ sources said.

The Government will make a statement on the truckers’ issue in the Lok Sabha tomorrow. An announcement to this effect was made by by Speaker Manohar Joshi during Zero Hour. The issue was raised by Kirit Somaiya of the BJP. He suggested that the Centre and the states sit together to resolve the issue.

He was joined by Congress deputy leader Shivraj Patil in calling for an immediate initiative to end the strike.