The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) State Secretary, B.V. Raghavulu, said yesterday the 17th national congress of the party to be held in Hyderabad tomorrow will discuss the setting up of a "people's front" as an alternative to the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Raghavulu said the conference would focus on who could be possible allies of the people's front and also its political future.

Issues such as communal forces, neo-liberal policies, corruption, sectional problems - relating to women, tribals, farmers - and the "abject surrender of the federal and state governments to the World Bank and IMF" would be discussed.

The meeting will also propose an action plan to tackle fundamentalists and communal forces.

The CPM leader said the national congress will elect the CPM's central committee which, in turn, will elect the general secretary and the politburo of the party.

He noted that the merits and demerits of the contesting leaders will be discussed by all before electing them.