In a letter to the Congress president, Desai termed the ban on non-iodised salt as against the spirit of the namak satyagarh of 1930, which had forced the people to use ``abnormally costly iodised salt.''

``As a freedom fighter, who had been involved in the satyagraha', led by Mahatma Gandhi, I request you to use your good office to bring utmost pressure on the government to lift the ban on the sale of non-iodised salt,'' said Desai in his letter, describing the ban as anti-constitutional, anti-people and pro-multinational companies.

Does not the ban violate a consumer's right to choose? Is it not against the fundamental right of the people who do not want to use the so-called iodised salt, which has proved more harmful to health? In the name of preventing goitre amongst 5 per cent people of hilly areas, how can one justify forcing 95 per cent of the people to use costly iodised salt, are some of the questions, which Desai has raised in his letter.

Desai has invited the Congress president to join Gandhians -- who under the leadership of Narayan Desai, a noted Sarvodaya activist -- are going to launch the second salt satyagraha from June 5.

He said he had failed to understand why the Congress Party, who had given a call to agitate against rising prices of onions and potatoes, had maintained silence on the ``uncalled'' ban on non-iodised salt, which affects millions of people of this poor country.