The strike by contract workers of the BEST was called off on Tuesday, after their representatives met the Chief Minister on Monday evening, and he assured them he would look into their demands, including a salary hike.

A BEST official said that due to the strike in the earlier part of the day, overall 90 per cent of the buses operated. Of the fleet, about 693 wet lease buses were also operated by the regular staff drivers of the BEST. For the convenience of passengers, a total of 210 buses of MSRTC and about 35 of its bus drivers drove BEST buses, along with 100 school buses that were operated on BEST routes.