The CPI(M) today released its manifesto for the 16th Lok Sabha elections.
While highlighting the main issues dwelt with in the manifesto, the CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat bemoaned the fact that the elections are sought to be projected as a contest between certain leaders and personalities, effectively sidelining the real issues that concern people, who will have to elect the new government.
Answering a question on alternative to the Congress and the BJP, the CPI(M) General Secretary said no alternative front can be formed without the Left. He said that the meeting of nine parties on February 25 did not discuss the formation of any front. But they unanimously decided to fight both the Congress and the BJP and hope that an alternative will emerge after the elections. The parties had also decided to maximize the performance and strength of these parties in their respective states. He said the CPI(M) and the Left parties will cooperate with other secular non-Congress parties to ensure that there is an alternative before the people as against the Congress and the BJP. Responding to a query he said that in “principle we are against having any prime ministerial candidate.”
The manifesto was jointly released by General Secretary Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau Members, S Ramachandran Pillai, Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat and A K Padmanabhan.
New Delhi, March 20, 2014