New Delhi, Oct 25 (PTI) An alternative to the BJP will emerge from people"s mandate and not by anyone"s decisions, said CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury on Monday and stressed the party"s recently Central Committee meeting did not discuss the issue of the Congress being that option.Also, the matter of any association with the Congress was not discussed at the meet, he told reporters after the three-day Central Committee meeting but pointed out that during polls multiple fronts are formed which in the past had crystallised with an anti-BJP focus.Sources said that on the second day of the Central Committee meeting, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had categorically said the Congress party was not an alternative to the BJP.Highlighting how the Janata Party had emerged as an alternative to the Congress after the Emergency and the UPA was formed after the defeat of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Yechury said alternatives have always been found by the people of India."No decision was taken on the issue (association with the Congress) and Congress as a national alternative to BJP wasn"t discussed."But if there is an alternative against BJP, then it will emerge as a decision taken by the people of the country and not anyone else. Whenever people have faced such a situation they have found an alternative on their own," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.About putting up strong opposition to the saffron party, the CPI(M) leader said every front that has been formed during the past few elections crystallised with an anti-BJP focus."Before every election, there will be a third front, a fourth front and multiple fronts. These things are part of the national flow in Indian politics but crystallised with an anti-BJP focus," he said.On the BJP government"s celebrations around the 100 crore Covid vaccination milestone, Yechury hit out at remarks made by a minister linking excise duties on petroleum products to free vaccinations."A cabinet minister is making preposterous claims that the hike in central excise duties on petroleum products is financing free vaccinations. This is ridiculous. If people are paying exorbitant prices, then vaccinations are not free."What happened to the Budgetary allocation of Rs 35,000 crores for vaccinations? Where has all the money gone?" he posed.He alleged that the Narendra Modi government is organising celebrations for administering 100 crore vaccines to "distract" people"s attention and "cover-up its gross mishandling of the pandemic"."Though delayed, it (100 crore doses milestone) is laudable. It must be noted that only 21 per cent of our population is fully vaccinated," Yechury said, demanding the withdrawal of the Central excise duty.The CPI(M) general secretary also demanded a caste-based census to be a part of the 2021 demographic survey."The Central Committee reiterated the party"s demand for conducting a caste census along with 2021 population census. The Central government must ensure that Parliament takes the necessary steps to ensure the conduct of such a census," he said. PTI ASG NSD