They play BJP games, run to Joshi for cover

Some of their demands, like the insistence on an abolition of toll-tax, were untenable, it is felt. Mahajan had been asked by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to intervene in the crisis.

Then the leaders of the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC) turned again to Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi who they had met yesterday.

A delegation of the AIMTC tried to meet Joshi today but the senior BJP leader wanted to tread carefully, for the move could upset his colleague B C Khanduri, Minister of State for Transport. Both Joshi and Khanduri hail from Uttaranchal and are Brahmins and any move by Joshi to mediate the trucker’s strike is likely to be interpreted as a game of one-up-manship.

AIMTC secretary-general Jatinder Mohan Saksena said: ‘‘We found Joshi very understanding when we called on him yesterday. Therefore, we tried to meet him today as well. He is our well-wisher. He offered to help us. I must say that we are totally disappointed with Khanduri. His attitude is not acceptable to us..’’

When asked about talks, Khanduri told The Indian Express: “I have not received any official delegation from the AIMTC, though some individual leaders from some other unions of truckers have been meeting me and the Transport Secretary.”

Asked if Joshi had been given a mandate by the Prime Minister to resolve the issue, Khanduri said, ‘‘I have no knowledge. They are free to meet whomsoever they wish.”