CPM's Shanmugam challenges BJP leader for debate in front of workers

CHENNAI: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam has challenged BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan for a public debate on the Union government’s labour codes, in the presence of workers, after she claimed they were enacted for labour welfare.

In a post on X, Shanmugam said he welcomed Tamilisai Soundararajan’s statement acknowledging that Communists have consistently fought for the rights of sanitation workers and transport workers. He added that her recent remarks had at least “accepted the truth” about who stood by the labouring classes.

Referring to her defence of the labour codes, he said the BJP maintained that the laws were meant to protect workers. “If that is true, does the BJP have the courage to debate these labour codes with us on the same stage, in front of workers?” he asked.

Shanmugam accused the BJP of repeatedly making the “same stale allegation” that Left parties had shifted “from the ballot box to the suitcase”, despite receiving several rebuttals. Instead, he questioned the opacity of the PM CARES Fund, saying thousands of crores collected in its name had been hidden from public scrutiny.

He further said the BJP had no standing to comment on Communists. “The BJP group, which loots thousands of crores from corporates in every election through the so-called electoral bonds, has no moral authority to speak about communists,” he wrote.