CHENNAI: The Opposition DMK on Monday launched a personal attack on TNCC president Manickam Tagore, calling him a "slave of the ruling TVK", over his remarks that corruption and other issues led to its defeat in the general Assembly elections.

In a statement, the DMK alleged that Congress leaders Manickam Tagore, Girish Chodankar and Praveen Chakravarty, who were part of the DMK-led alliance, had made adverse remarks about the alliance and acted as "sleeper cells" during the Assembly elections.

The party said it had no reason to participate in protests organised by the INDIA bloc as it was no longer part of the tie-up. It also said that the bloc had no right to compel the DMK to join its protests.

Questioning Tagore, the DMK said that if he had self-respect, he should ask Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay why he was not participating in protests against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The DMK has described the Congress as a "rotting corpse" and argued that its vote share had declined because it had carried the latter party along with it. The DMK claimed that its support among the people had since increased, referring to the bypoll performance.

Explaining its decision to quit the INDIA bloc, the DMK alleged that Congress leaders had betrayed the alliance and acted against alliance dharma to pursue ministerial posts.