THE COUNTRY’S largest car manufacturer, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL) is at loggerheads not just with its agitated employees but also with some political parties (supposedly the foreign hand), which they claim have got a major contribution in the unrest. The company, which enjoys a reputation of owning every second car that is rolled out in the country, is now stuck in the web of labour militancy that has entered its 14th day.

Adding fuel to the fire were the rumours that MSIL may soon shift its production base to Gujarat as talks are on with the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi, for a while now. However, Maruti chief RC Bhargava was quick to quash the rumours, said that the company was just looking for a new production site elsewhere in the country, and were impressed  with the way the Gujarat government acts as a magnet to attract potential investment. One question that now arises is, is Bhargava unhappy with the way the Haryana government is handling the issue even though now it's part of the resolution talks? Having fully utilised the potential of Gurgaon and Manesar, Bhargava said that the company was now seeking to explore richer avenues and Gujarat perfectly fit in the bill.

With the Haryana government too acting as an arbitrator between the labour force and the company since the last round of talks failed on October 18, the chief of Maruti in an interview with NDTV said, “The talks between the workers and the management are continuing. They haven't failed, they are still continuing and I think they will continue day after tomorrow because these kinds of talks don't get resolved. The issues don't get resolved in one day and to dub them as a failure is a little unfair.” The company, in its reports had said that yesterday it had rolled out 200 cars with the 600 workers who had not participated in the strike.