If sole aim is coming to power, Third Front will not be successful: Yechury

Re-elected CPI(M) General secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that any non-BJP and non-Congress "third front would not be successful if it was formed" with the sole aim of coming to power.

Speaking at a public meeting at the conclusion of the party's 22nd Congress, he said the third front should have a strong basis and policy under which it should be formed and would emerge only through public movements.

He said the Telangana Chief Minister spoke with him some days back, wanting to bring a Non-Congress and non-BJP front.

"He asked my opinion. I said the third front exercise was done about 20 years ago in 1996. We formed a government under the leadership of Deve Gowda without BJP and Congress."

Yechury said the question now what was the main expectation of the third front and on what policies would it be formed.

"The front that will be formed specifically to come into power will not work. We will take a decision based on the policies on which the front would be formed," he said.

Yechury said defeating religious-based politics and 'religious fanatics' was the prime objective

"We will decide what sort of strategy is to be followed during elections. They (religious forces) will not be defeated through mere poll alliances. We will have to strengthen public movements to defeat them," he opined.

He alleged that the Modi Government waived Rs three lakh crore worth of loans to 'big capitalists' like Nirav Modi.

Yechury alleged that many of the persons involved in atrocities against children and women belong to RSS and BJP and that the government had failed to act against such people.

"There are no cases against them. On the contrary, cases are filed against the victims. We have never faced such a state of affairs before this regime," he alleged.

Charging that the ruling BJP was trying to woo Hindu voters and consolidate their vote bank, Yechury said BJP was endangering the secular fabric of this country in the name of 'Gau Raksha'.

"They dictate what we should eat and who should be our friends," he said.

He called for the unity of 'Lal Salam' and 'Jai Bheem' to fight the current regime.

Describing Modi as Duryodhana and Amit Shah as Dushyasana of the epic Mahabharat, he said the CPI(M) would defeat 'communal forces' through public movements.

He alleged that the Modi-led NDA Government had failed on all fronts, including providing Minimum Support Price to farmers.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said development of the country was hampered due to the 'neo-liberal' policies of the present government.

He opined that permanent jobs in all sectors had vanished due to the 'hire and fire' policies followed by employers.

Vijayan highlighted some of the developmental measures being undertaken by his government in Kerala.

Former Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said only the Left party can provide an alternative to Congress and BJP.

"BJP cannot be the alternative of Congress and Congress cannot be the alternative to BJP. They are two sides of the same coin. Only the Left and democratic forces can provide that alternative. That situation will emerge through movements only," he said.

CPI(M) Police Bureau member Brinda Karat was among those who spoke in the public meeting.

Earlier before the meeting, some of the party's Red Shirt volunteers took out a march from Malakpet to Saroornagar Stadium, where the public meeting was held.