11 parties form 'alternative' to UPA, BJP in LS polls

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, 11 parties today got together with a vow to defeat Congress-led UPA and prevent BJP from coming to power by presenting themselves as an alternative to them.
The announcement was made after a meeting here of the leaders of the parties including JD(U), Left, Samajwadi Party, AIADMK.
However, the ticklish issue of their Prime Ministerial candidate was put off till after the elections.
Addressing a press conference after the hour-long meeting, CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat said the 11 parties will work together to defeat UPA whose rule has witnessed massive corruption and price rise.

Flanked by JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, JD(S) leader H D Deve Gowda and some others, Karat said BJP's policies are similar to those of Congress. "BJP is the other side of the same coin," he said.
Moreover, BJP represents communal politics which is dangerous for the country, he added.

The 11 parties wil present an alternative to UPA and BJP, said the CPI(M) leader.
He appealed to other "secular" parties to join them in their endeavour.
Mulayam Singh said the third alternative grouping could expand in future. "Today, we are 11 parties, it can be 15 parties later," he said.

Asked whether JD(U) will again re-allign with BJP if the third alternative experiment does not work, Nitish Kumar asserted that he will have "no contact, leave alone the question of returning to BJP".