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Elections should be fought on the basis of issues, not on the basis of personalities contesting them, Communist Party of India - Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury has said.
He described the 'NaMo versus RaGa' contest (debate between Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi) as "cacophony".
"Instead of issues being discussed, you find the NaMo vs RaGa. Normally the ragas are musical, this is cacophony," Yechury said.
"Our slogan in the next election will be 'neta nahi, niti nayi (we need a new policy, not a new leader)," Yechury told journalists at the Indian Women's Press Corps.
Responding to a question, Yechury said that his party was not happy with the way the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh had handled the riots in the state.
“It has been conveyed to them at a convention of secular parties," he said
Yechuri said the convention was organised to mobilise secular forces at a time when an attempt was being made to widen the communal divide.
"You had the Muzaffarnagar riots; you had Modi announced by BJP as their prime ministerial candidate. You know the baggage associated with Modi in Gujarat. So this entire atmosphere is being built towards a sharpening of communal polarisation," he said.
He also said that by raising the debate on the role of SardaVallabhbhai Patel, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-BJP were trying to "steal" a link to the freedom struggle.