PATNA: The Left Front partners are favourably disposed towards the coming together of the erstwhile "Janata parivar or socialist parties" as was discussed during a meeting hosted by Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav in Delhi on Thursday. "It's a positive development," CPM politburo member Sitaram Yechury said in Patna on Friday. "Let's see what policy and principles they finally adopt. First let them sort out the core issues."

Lalu Prasad (RJD), Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav (both JD-U), and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda (JD-Secular), among others, had attended the Delhi meeting. The idea was to cobble together some kind of political formation or forum to take on the BJP-led NDA on the floor of Parliament.

Asked if the Left Front partners would align with them, Yechury told the media: "It's only the initial stage. They're going through the process of 'manthan (churning)'. Let them decide the common core issues. We'll align with them on certain basic policies and principles."

Against the backdrop of the weakening of the Congress and several other political parties following the Lok Sabha elections, and the BJP's rise to power, Yechury said: "Politics should not be seen merely in terms of electoral politics, gain or loss. It's also true that no struggle for the democratic aspirations of people can succeed without the participation of the Left stream in it. Without the Left stream, there cannot be democratic struggle."

Yechury said the CPM and all other Left parties were "seized with the shrinkage of the Left base in the country and intensive internal discussions are being held". The reasons for the shrinkage and the consequent future course correction would be decided at the party's April conclave. In the meantime, the CPI(ML) and the Socialist Unity Centre of India have also joined the Left Front, he said.

He said the country was on the cusp of major policy transformations envisaged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "PM Narendra Modi has not yet come out of election mode, but he remains silent on policies and goes on foreign tours as former PM Manmohan Singh used to do," Yechury said.