Left calls for rejection of political platform of Cong, BJP

Virtually launching the campaign for the next general elections, Left parties today said no national alliance was possible without them and asked all democratic and secular forces to unite on the basis of an 'alternative' policy platform against the 'anti-people, neo- liberal' measures pursued both by Congress and BJP.
Asserting that there was no real difference between the Congress and the BJP on policy issues, top leaders of the four Left parties said the two major parties stood for policies and programmes "which are not in the interests of the people but represent the interest of a narrow strata".
"What is required today is the rejection of the policies and the political platform of the Congress and the BJP," the leaders of CPI(M), CPI, RSP and Forward Bloc said at a joint national political convention here where they unanimously adopted a declaration and a 10-point alternative policy platform.

The leaders, including Prakash Karat, Sitaram Yechury (both CPI-M), A B Bardhan, S Sudhakar Reddy (both CPI), Debabrata Biswas (Forward Bloc) and Abani Roy (RSP), appealed to all democratic and secular parties to "support this platform in the interests of the vast masses of exploited and impoverished people".
They also asked their cadres to carry out a nationwide campaign on the issues raised in the charter and organise rallies and meetings for the next four months.
"The Lok Sabha polls are slated next year, but they can happen earlier also. We can forge a front of non-Congress, non-BJP parties for these elections. But our experience has shown that nothing can be achieved like that.

"No alternative can be possible if it is forged only for elections. It has to be on the basis of an alternative policy platform which will provide succour to the people who have been badly hit by the neo-liberal policies pursued both by the Congress and the BJP," said Karat.