CPI(M) General Secretary Prakash Karat had earlier said that the emergence of such an alternative would become "the rallying point for all the secular-democratic forces in the country who want to see an end to Congress rule and who want to prevent the party with a communal ideology coming to power at the Centre".
He had noted that in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the combined vote percentage polled by Congress and BJP was 46.7 and 47.4 per cent respectively.
"Since then, assembly elections in various states have shown the strength of regional parties which were able to win substantial support and form governments," he said.
