'Decision on UNPA leader after more parties join'

Chennai, June 18: The newly-formed United National Progressive Alliance (UNPA), a combination of eight regional parties, will decide on its leader after more parties join the front.

Talking to reporters after a two-hour-long meeting at her Poes Garden residence here, AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa, one of the architects of the new front, said ''I am not the leader of the front.'' ''We are expecting some more parties to join us. We have not yet decided on the leader. It will be decided after more parties join us,'' she added.

Flanked by TDP President N Chandrababu Naidu and Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav and leaders of other parties in the front, Ms Jayalalithaa foresees a realignment of parties at the national level at the time of next general elections.

To a question, she said ''It is premature to comment on it as the UNPA was neither pro-Congress nor pro-BJP. The UNPA is a separate entity. We hope more parties will join the UNPA, which will result in political realignment before the next Lok Sabha polls,'' she added.

Observing that the road map of the UNPA would be drawn in its next meeting, to be organised by INLD Leader Om Prakash Chauthala in New Delhi, Ms Jayalalithaa said ''our aim is to build a viable alternative to the Congress and the BJP, to build a strong nation and make India a global superpower.'' When asked how the UNPA, being a group of regional parties, could influence national policies, she said the nation's destiny was shaped by regional parties.

UNI

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