Chennai, Feb 28 (IANS): DMK president M. Karunanidhi said in comments published Friday that he considered the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi "a good friend".

In an interview published in the Tamil newspaper "Dinamalar", Karunanidhi said the Gujarat chief minister was a "very hard worker".

"Modi is very hard worker," he was quoted as saying. "This is evident from his election campaign. He is also a good friend of mine."

Karunanidhi was asked about his earlier statement that the DMK would not ally with "communal forces" to fight elections and whether this stand could change.

"I made the announcement that there will be no alliance with communal forces," he said. The DMK leader then asked the journalist if he saw the Bharatiya Janata Party as a communal outfit.

"The situation after the Lok Sabha election cannot be predicted as of now," he added.

Karunanidhi declined to comment on BJP leader Subramanian Swamy's remark that a BJP-DMK alliance was a possibility.

"You have to ask him (Swamy) on what basis he is saying that," he said.

The DMK was once a part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance but later switched allegiance to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance. The DMK and the Congress are no more allies.