Alternative secular govt to be formed at Centre post 2019 LS polls: Yechury

New Delhi, Dec 17: CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Monday claimed that a secular, alternative government will be formed at the Centre after the general elections in 2019.

Addressing a press conference, he said the party was working on the unity of secular forces at the state level to defeat the BJP alliance in the Lok Sabha elections.

"In order to defeat the BJP, our efforts for unifying secular forces will take different shapes in different states. Post election we will decide on the formation of new government. Like 1996, 1998 and 2004, post the 2019 poll, an alternative front will come and there will be a secular government," claimed Yechury.

Reacting to DMK leader MK Stalin's support to Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial face of the opposition, he said, "We have always maintained that we have learnt from our country's history. Formation of an alternative government at the Centre is possible post election."

The central committee of the CPI(M), which met here Saturday and Sunday, has reiterated that its main task for the 2019 elections is to defeat BJP alliance and to ensure that an alternative secular government is formed at the Centre.

Yechury said the central committee has asked the state units of the party to make preparations in consonance with tactical line for next general elections.

"The main tasks that it had set before the party was to defeat the BJP alliance; to increase the strength of the CPI(M) and the Left in the Lok Sabha and to ensure that an alternative secular government is formed at the Centre," he said.

The central committee made a preliminary assessment of the results of the recently held elections to the assemblies of five states.

PTI