CHENNAI: CPM State secretary P. Shanmugam on Sunday accused AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami of misleading government employees on the issue of the old pension scheme.

In a post on X, Shanmugam said Palaniswami had alleged that the DMK government had deceived government employees by claiming to restore the old pension scheme. He countered the charge by asking who had first abolished the old pension scheme, pointing out that it was done during the AIADMK regime led by Jayalalithaa with effect from April 1, 2003.

Shanmugam questioned why Palaniswami did not reintroduce the old pension scheme when he served as Chief Minister and why even now the AIADMK had failed to state in its announcement that the scheme would be restored if the party returned to power. He said Palaniswami was only capable of making allegations and not of implementing measures.

Referring to the assured pension scheme announced by the present Tamil Nadu government, Shanmugam asked what criticism Palaniswami could offer other than objecting to the 10% employee contribution. He added that Palaniswami, whose party is allied with the BJP that abolished the old pension scheme across the country, had no moral right to speak on the issue.