Oct. 26 :    Oct. 26:  Drawing comfort from the sudden strike rollback in West Bengal, the Centre tonight resumed talks with the truckers who still held out. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), which is spearheading the strike, and surface transport ministry officials were tight-lipped about the outcome of today?s talks, which resumed after a gap of three days. ?We have discussed some issues and will continue discussing,? transport secretary Ashoke Joshi said. AIMTC secretary general J.M. Saksena said talks were likely to continue tomorrow.. Union surface transport minister Nitish Kumar said the government was open to discussion on issues other than the diesel price. ?Our doors are open for talks as everyone is losing from the strike,? he said. The government is pinning hopes on widening divisions among the unions to make them end the strike. ?The strike has been called off in West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. In most of the states, movement of vehicles is near-normal,? Joshi said. The All India Truck Transport Federation and truckers from three districts of Uttar Pradesh have also withdrawn from the agitation. The government claimed that transporters in Gujarat and Orissa have decided to resume operations. However, the AIMTC contested the claim. ?Our president represents the Orissa association. How can it withdraw?? asked Saksena. Echoes of the diesel price row reached Parliament, too. The entire Opposition in the Lok Sabha walked out, protesting the government?s refusal to scaledown the price. The Opposition alleged that though international prices were revised several times, the government sat on the issue ?with elections in mind? and jacked up rate at one go. Pointing out that the price was raised on the last day of polling, CPM?s Somnath Chatterjee said: ?Why did the government wait in earlier months? Naturally because of the elections.? Telugu Desam, the BJP?s biggest ally, also criticised the way the price was increased. ?The reasons should be explained clearly to the people before taking such decisions,? Desam leader and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said in Hyderabad tonight. Naidu added that the government ?did not consult anybody? before taking the decision ?overnight?. In New Delhi, trade and industry appealed to the striking truckers to withdraw the agitation in the national interest. Mumbai taxi strike Over 55,000 taxis went off the roads in Mumbai today as talks failed to resolve a stand-off over whether vehicles older than 15 years should report for a fitness test. The Mumbai Taximen?s Union said the strike might have to be extended indefinitely till the government agreed to review its decision on the ban on 137-D Padmini cars as taxis due to excess smoke emission and its circular on old vehicles going in for a pollution test.