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| AK Antony and M Karunanidhi during the meeting in Chennai on Sunday. (PTI) |
Chennai, April 29: The DMK has said it would like Vice-President Hamid Ansari to be the next President, according to sources.
DMK leader Karunanidhi told defence minister A.K. Antony at Chennai today that Ansari should be the first choice of the UPA as he was already in the number two slot.
Karunanidhi also reasoned that since Ansari was a Muslim, the Opposition may reconsider backing A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and Kalam himself might not come in the way of a respected academic such as Ansari occupying Rashtrapati Bhavan.
As Pranab Mukherjee had been Delhi’s chosen emissary when it came to interacting with the DMK leader, deputing Antony led to speculation that Mukherjee himself might be a candidate.
Karunanidhi himself asked Antony if there was such a move but the Congress leader said that the government needed Mukherjee’s services and that he “could not be replaced easily”, a DMK source said.
Karunanidhi told Antony that unlike in 2007, the DMK’s contribution by way of electoral votes had diminished this time because of the AIADMK’s 146 MLAs in the 234-member Assembly.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa will most likely explore her choice during her visit to Delhi for the NCTC meeting in the first week of May when she will meet other non-Congress chief ministers.
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