New Delhi: The foreign origin of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, hyped by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) during the election campaign, would continue to be an issue in the future, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Venkiah Naidu said today (May 13, 2004).

When asked if Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin would continue to be an issue for BJP, Naidu said that they were not talking about Sonia Gandhi but "foreign origin is still an issue".

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As such Congress had not declared till this morning that Gandhi would be their Prime Ministerial candidate and the front led by it had not got a clear majority, he said.

Naidu was talking to reporters after a meeting of top NDA leaders, including Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani and NDA convener George Fernandes, at the residence of the Prime Minister.