Kochi, Mar 3 (PTI) The Congress party"s "flirting with soft Hindutva" has only made it weaker as compared to the past and therefore, it is in no position to take on the BJP and RSS and remove them from controlling the government, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said on Thursday. Speaking to the media during the third day of the four-day long party state conference at Ernakulam, Yechury said it is the Left alone which is presently able to "ideologically, politically and organisationally take on the challenge posed by the Hindutva forces. "The Hindutva agenda of RSS and BJP can only be defeated by a firm adherence to secularism. Any amount of flirting with soft Hindutva will only feed into the agenda of Hindutva forces and that is what Congress keeps doing. "In that sense, Congress today, compared to the past, is considerably weakened and many in the BJP and RSS do not see it as a major threat, primarily because at any point of time, any of its leaders can be lured away to join the BJP as is happening many a time," he said. So a weakened Congress would be unable to take on the challenge posed by the Hindutva agenda, he said and added that its compromising attitude will not help remove the BJP from controlling the government. Therefore, what is required is a strong Left that will be able to bring together all secular groups to take on the Hindutva forces, he further said. The 4-day state conference of the ruling CPI(M) is being held ahead of its 23rd party congress which is scheduled to take place at Kannur from April 6-10. Around 450 delegates including observers are taking part in the conference. On the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Yechury said the party wants Russian President Vladimir Putin to declare a ceasefire and Ukraine to dismantle its NATO infrastructure and remain a neutral country. He further said that no patriot would oppose the central government"s rescue and evacuation efforts, but supporting it does not mean "appreciation of the government moves". He said that the Indian government wants students to walk out of war-hit Kharkiv to other nearby towns in the freezing temperatures, when they have no food or water and amidst the constant shelling and gunfire. "You want students to walk in the cold and amidst the shelling to the nearby towns or borders. That is callous and inhuman. The government should get its act together and pull up its socks to ensure all the Indian nationals and students are properly and safely evacuated," he said further. "We have already lost one precious life and that should not be repeated," he added. PTI HMP ROH ROH