CPI-M to take on Congress, BJP in Lok Sabha poll

Kolkata, Oct 14 (IANS) The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) will aim to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress in the forthcoming Lok Sabha poll, the party's general secretary Prakash Karat said here Tuesday.

The decision was taken in the three-day Central Committee meeting which concluded here Tuesday.

'For the Lok Sabha election, we've decided to take an electoral platform aiming to defeat the BJP, which is a communal party advocating reactionary economic policies, and for the rejection of the Congress that is forging a strategic alliance with the US and pursuing anti-people economic policies in India,' Karat told a press conference.

He said in the central committee had discussed specific electoral tactics to be pursued in various states and given directions for the election preparations, keeping in mind the assembly polls in six states and the subsequent Lok Sabha poll.

'We'll adopt a common policy along with some non-Congress, non-BJP parties to contest the coming elections. We've already discussed the issue in the Central Committee meeting here,' he said.

Asked whether CPI-M still considered Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati as a prime ministerial candidate, Karat said: 'Since the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is an important political force in Uttar Pradesh, we'll consider it with due importance.'

Earlier, CPI-M politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the party was in talks with a number of regional parties to form a non-Congress secular front at the national level.