Defending the party's decision, Bhattacharya said the presidential poll is not merely election of a person to the top post but also a vote for policies and programmes of political parties contesting.
CPI-ML(L), he said, has decided to abstain from the presidential election as it disapproves of policies and programmes of both the UPA and NDA.
The party does not support UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee as he is part of the incumbent central government whose policies have allegedly pushed the country to severe economic crisis and presided over a series of scams, besides meekly surrendering before the US.
The NDA is no different from UPA as its policy decisions on economy, foreign, agriculture and trade while it was in power at the Centre were detrimental to the interests of the country and its people, Bhattacharya accused.
The UPA government had inherited its predecessor's economic and foreign policies and sustained them during its rule, he claimed.
"The adverse impact of economic and foreign policies of the two governments is there for all to see as the country is reeling under economic crisis affecting the people," he said.
