'Choice of V-P should not be based on regional factors'

Key United Progressive Alliance ally Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Tuesday rejected the contention that the choice of candidate for the vice-Presidential poll was based on regional consideration.

"For the post of President and vice-President, persons are not picked according to the four directions. We have made the recommendations based on the (prevailing) situation and atmosphere (for the presidential candidate)," DMK chief M Karunanidhi told reporters.

He was answering a query if his party would seek nomination of a candidate from south India after Congress propped up Vice-President Hamid Ansari's name for a second term.

Maintaining that the choice of candidates for such high posts should not be guided by regional factors, Karunanidhi said same yardstick would be applied for the vice-President's post also.

Ansari's name figured high in consultations that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had in the last few days with Janata Dal-Secular chief H D Deve Gowda and Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Prakash Karat on the issue.

A section in Congress feels that Ansari's second term will send a good signal to minorities.

DMK is one of the first UPA constituents to back the candidature of the front's nominee Pranab Mukherjee with Karunanidhi himself proposing the former finance minister's name.

He had, however, remained evasive on the issue of vice-President's post, saying it was not his job.