CPM to back candidates who can defeat BJP

The CPM will support the "strongest" candidate who can defeat the BJP in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections in all seats except around 30 in which the Left Front will field candidates.

The CPM will field 18-19 candidates while other Left-Front constituents will fight in 11-12 seats for an Assembly of 224 seats. A CPM statement said Central Committee discussed the political situation in Karnataka and approved the list of party candidates without giving details. "In seats where the CPM and other Left parties are contesting, we will support the strongest candidate. We will call for the defeat of the BJP," CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters here after the three-day meeting of the Central Committee concluded.

Asked whether the call to defeat the BJP would mean a call to ask people to vote for the Congress, Yechury said they have not asked to vote for a particular party. "Our main objective is to defeat the BJP. People will decide whom to vote for to defeat the BJP," he said.