CHENNAI: CPI state secretary R Mutharasan has criticised AIADMK general secretary and Leader of the Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami, stating that he lacks the political clarity and moral standing to comment on the CPI or its leadership.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Mutharasan accused Palaniswami of borrowing political slogans without understanding their context. “Unable to form a political narrative of his own, Palaniswami has now taken up the CPI’s earlier call to ‘Save Tamil Nadu’, which was first raised against the AIADMK’s corruption-ridden regime before 2021,” he said.

Alleging that Palaniswami was acting under the influence of the BJP’s ideological leadership in Nagpur, Mutharasan said, “Having failed to divide the secular and progressive alliance in the State, he now wanders with a confused mind.”

The CPI leader further recalled that it was the Left that gave AIADMK founder MG Ramachandran his initial political platform, a historical fact widely recognised by the state people.

Aiming at the AIADMK’s shifting political stance, Mutharasan said, “It was Jayalalithaa who publicly declared that her party would never ally with the BJP. Her successors have now discarded her words and aligned with the Modi-Shah leadership.”

He also accused Palaniswami of signing Union government policies such as GST, the UDAY scheme, and the Food Security Act, which Jayalalithaa had firmly opposed. “Even before the soil on her samadhi could dry, Palaniswami betrayed Tamil Nadu’s rights,” he alleged.

Urging the AIADMK leader to practise restraint, Mutharasan said, “Let the people decide in 2026 who truly lost ground. Until then, Palaniswami should hold his tongue.”