The Left Parties have called for a country-wide hartal tomorrow protesting against rising prices of essential commodities. A press release issued by the Communist Party of India (CPI) in New Delhi today said the left parties along with other secular democratic parties and opposition in general, have called for the hartal from 6 AM to 6 PM. <br/><br/>The left leaders appealed to the trading community to voluntarily down their shutters. They wanted buses and trucks, both private and public, to be off the road and educational institutions to be closed in support of the hartal.The release, however, said essential services like milk, water, hospitals are exempt from participation in the hartal.