Any political alternative ahead of Lok Sabha elections must centre around "alternative policies" and not focus only on providing an alternative government, the CPI-M said Thursday.
"The Left parties have appealed to all non-Congress, non-BJP democratic and secular parties to rally around such alternative policies much needed both for the country's economy and for improving people's livelihood," an editorial in the CPI-M organ "People's Democracy" said.
"Any political alternative that may emerge as a consequence must be centered around the implementation of such alternative policies and not be merely confined to providing an alternative government."
It said the need of the hour was to strengthen popular struggles and create a political alternative based on alternative policies in the coming general election.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist said the Congress-led government "appears hell bent upon to unleash a new wave of neo-liberal reforms in the name of lifting a sinking economy.
"The consequence of such a trajectory is all too well known.
"While creating newer and fresher opportunities for profit maximisation, by foreign and domestic capital, these reforms will only put further burdens on the people, as they have done in the past, compounding their already growing miseries," it said.