Speaking to reporters in Tirupur, Subbarayan said it was wrong to interpret DMK leader Kanimozhi’s participation in the event as a sign of a DMK-BJP understanding, as she had attended it in her capacity as the floor leader of an opposition party.

Stating that the CPI was not part of any alliance in Tamil Nadu, he said, “We will appreciate the government when it does good and oppose it when it does not.”

On the controversy over the proposed delimitation, Subbarayan said the exercise could reduce the political representation of the southern states while increasing the representation of states with larger populations in the north.

Describing the proposal as “a poison-laced sweet”, he said the Centre should consult the southern states and arrive at a consensus before proceeding with the exercise. “We hope the DMK does not align with the BJP on this issue,” he said.

Subbarayan also urged Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay to convene a meeting of opposition parties to discuss the Mekedatu dam issue and evolve a common position.

On the disruptions in Parliament, Subbarayan said that the BJP-led government had refused to allow discussions on the police action against students protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi and financial irregularities involving donations to the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Meanwhile, another veteran CPI leader R Mutharasan, speaking in Coimbatore on Friday, blamed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for the disruptions in Parliament, particularly over the protests by students in New Delhi and the subsequent police action. Mutharasan claimed that the continuing impasse in Parliament was resulting in the wastage of around Rs nine crore in public money every day.