Chennai, Jan 11: The DMK, which sewed up an alliance with Congress for coming Lok Sabha polls, today asserted leader of the Opposition president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin was not an issue. "The DMK has already said it is not an issue," DMK president M Karunanidhi told media persons at his residence here after a meeting with Lok Jan Shakti leader Ram Vilas Paswan.

He said that his talks with Paswan centred around efforts to form a new secular progressive front and Paswan expressed the desire that DMK play a role in the process of selecting a prime ministerial candidate on behalf of the front.

Asked if confusion prevailed over selection of a candidate for the premier's post, Karunanidhi referred to recent remarks of congress leader Manmohan Singh that the leaders of the front would select the person for the post. On the reports that there was likely to be two front--one led by the Left Party and the Congress-led front--the DMK chief merely referred to an article written by CPI-M leader Harkishen Singh Surjit in which the communist leader had stated that the Left Front would extend support to a Congress-led front.

On the stand to be taken by PMK, currently the BJP-led NDA at the Centre, Karunanidhi said, "I am confident that PMK will be with us".
Bureau Report