Bhubaneswar: CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Friday kept the option open for an alliance with the BJD and asked secular parties to join hands to stop the BJP's march.

Yechury is here to attend an event of the party in Berhampur on Saturday.

On being asked whether the Left will have an alliance with the BJD in the forthcoming elections, he refrained from making any negative remarks.

"The party's state committee will take a call in this regard," he said.

He also maintained that the BJD should play a major role against the BJP government. The CPM had an alliance with the BJD for three seats in Odisha in 2009 general election.

All the leaders enjoyed a good rapport with BJD supremo and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Terming BJP as a major threat, Yechury said: "We will make the required effort to ensure that the saffron party will not be able to take advantage of the polarisation of votes of the non-BJP parties."

He also made it clear that his party would not make any pre-poll alliance in which the Congress is involved. "All the alliance in the past had been formed after the election result only," he said.

He said: "In 1996, the United Front led by former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda was formed. In 2004, the UPA was formed by the former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh."

BJD spokesperson Rabi Narayan Nanda said: "Our party president Naveen Patnaik will take a call on the issue. Out party has been maintaining equi-distance from BJP and Congress."