THRISSUR: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury has given a thinly veiled defence for a tactical electoral alliance with the Congress to defeat the BJP-RSS government and their communal policies.Inaugurating the Kerala state conference of the CPM here on Thursday Yechury recalled that the draft political resolution adopted by the party leadership has clearly ruled out any understanding or electoral alliance with the Congress.``But at the time of elections, appropriate electoral tactics will be worked out whereby the maximum pooling of the anti-BJP votes will be done in order to achieve the objective of defeating the BJP and communal forces,’’ Yechury said.The CPM secretary made it clear that the communal forces can be defeated in the long run, not just through electoral battles, but by mounting sustained campaigns and agitations agaist them and by presenting alternative economic policies. ``There are debates going on among different sections including media on which leader you prefer, Narendra Modi or Rahul Gandhi. The questions is not which Netha (leader), but which neethi (policy) we have to follow,’’During his nearly 50 minutes- speech, Yechury made a scathing attack on the BJP government which according to him has been aggressively pursuing the neo-liberal economic policies that was pushing the ordinary sections into deep miseries. The BJP government was undermining all democratic institutions and was ensuring that only their single narrative is being heard by stifling the medial overtly and covertly. At the International level India has been reduced to the status of junior ally of the US. The government was also systematically pursuing communal policies , and even Indian history and philosophy are being distorted to propagate their Hindutva agenda, Yechury alleged.Yechury confined his attack on the Congress to one sentence which was a quote from the draft political resolution to be presented at the ensuing party congress in Hyderabad. At the same time he appealed to the party activists and leaders to give feedback on the draft resolution so that it can be further debated at the Congress. The party secretary was indirectly saying that the issues like electoral understanding with the Congress will remain open till the party congress approves it;Interestingly, Yechury was making these observations at the party conference in Kerala where majority of the party leaders are vehemently opposed to any deal with the Congress.Yechury also refrained from directly defending the Kerala leaders who are now on the defensive following the murder of the Youth Congress activist Shuhaib in Kannur. He said launching physical attack against the political opponents was not the policy of the CPM, ``I assure that there will be strong action if there is any aberration.’’He however said in Kerala numerous activists and leaders of the CPM have lost their lives in the attack by the RSS and communal forces. ``When our caders are attacked we have a right to defend them. But physically attacking the political opponents is not the policy of the CPM. That is the policy of the RSS and BJP, and several judicial commissions which had proved the communal riots in different parts of the country have unearthed evidences for this,’’ Yechury said.The CPM leader alleged that Modi is remaining silent when numerous scams including the latest one related to the Punjab National Bank. The government should publish the details of those accompanying the Prime Minister when he travels abroad, Yechury said.