(rptg, correcting name in para two)

New Delhi, May 14 (UNI) Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yousuf today expressed hope that the coming to power of Mayawati in Uttar Pradesh would pave way for resolution of the nearly eight month-long bus dispute between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

''I'm hopeful that with the ascent of Ms Mayawati to power, the ongoing bus dispute between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh will be solved. I'm sure she would not display the stubborn attitude that the former UP Minister Naresh Agarwal rpt Agarwal has been displaying since the dispute arose,''Mr Yousuf said.

The Delhi Transport Minister said that after the allocation of departments in, he would send a delegation of officials to Uttar Pradesh to hold talks with officials of the UP Transport department to resolve the bus row.

He said if necessary, he would himself go to Uttar Pradesh to hold talks with the concerned authorities in order to solve the vexed issue.

The present impasse between the two states arose in November last year when the two state governments suspended their respective bus services to the neighbouring state, after the Delhi transport authorities impounded ten buses of the UP Transport department saying that these buses were operating as city services in Delhi, which violated the transport agreement signed by the two Governments in 2004.

This, in turn, led to the UP authorities also impounding over 100 DTC buses operating in Noida.

This was followed by the Delhi government suspending operation of DTC buses in UP with UP also suspending its bus operations in Delhi.

Though the 100 DTC buses impounded by the UP Government were later released, the issue remains unresolved despite several rounds of official level talks.

The bus service between the two states remain suspended, causing inconvenience to those commuting to their respective offices in the two states.

UNI