CHENNAI: CPM state secretary P Shanmugam on Wednesday lashed out at AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) for his comments belittling Communist parties, accusing him of aligning with the BJP out of fear of Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax (IT) raids.

Responding to EPS’s remarks made during his campaign at Ambai constituency, Shanmugam, in a post on social media platform X, said: “You accuse Communists of compromising for seats. But how many agitations have you conducted over people’s issues? Are you ready to publish a list? We are ready to list every struggle we have led. When it comes to people’s causes, Communists have always been the champions in the public arena.”

Shanmugam’s retort came after EPS alleged that the Communist parties had lost their presence in Tamil Nadu and were surviving merely as junior partners in the DMK-led alliance.

EPS said, “Communist parties in Tamil Nadu have become insignificant. As subservient partners to the DMK in the alliance, they only work to secure a few seats during elections. If they truly fought for people’s issues, they would have popular support. But they remain silent, fearing they might lose their seats and be pushed out of the alliance.”

He went on to accuse the DMK of gradually “swallowing” the Communist parties, leaving them voiceless and irrelevant.