Talk to Kerala, Karnataka, resolve omnibus strike: Oppn to govt

CHENNAI: All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), on Thursday urged the State government to take immediate steps to end the omnibus owners’ strike, pointing out the suspension of inter-state operations due to fines imposed by neighbouring states.

Leader of the opposition and AIADMK chief, Edappadi K. Palaniswami, said Tamil Nadu passengers were facing hassles after omnibus operators stopped inter-state services. The DMK regime must not cause any further delay and find an amicable solution to the issue by holding talks with office-bearers of the bus owners’ association and facilitating easy travel options for the people, Palaniswami said in a statement.

For the past week, inter-state operations have remained suspended, the AIADMK chief underlined, adding that omnibus owners are on strike and that fines imposed by neighbouring states severely hit their business.

BJP former state unit chief, K Annamalai, alleged that the fundamental reason for the problem was the additional road tax levied “out of greed” by Tamil Nadu’s DMK regime on vehicles from other states. Last week, about 100 omnibus with Tamil Nadu registration were fined to the tune of about Rs 2 crore in Kerala and Karnataka, which DMK’s alliance partners govern, he claimed, adding that in view of this, the omnibus transport has come to a grinding halt, inconveniencing Tamil Nadu passengers.

Not only that, Chief Minister MK Stalin has not taken any action to resolve the issue for so many days, considering the welfare of the INDIA alliance parties that are in power in neighbouring states, he further alleged.

While the CMs of other states work for the welfare of the people of their states, TN CM Stalin was making the Tamil people a “scapegoat “for the sake of the welfare of his alliance parties in neighbouring states, he alleged. He urged for talks with Kerala, Karnataka governments to break the deadlock.