CPI has rejected invite to join AIADMK front, says R. Mutharasan

The Communist Party of India (CPI) has rejected the invitation by AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami to join the AIADMK front in Tamil Nadu, R. Mutharasan, State secretary of the CPI, told the media on Saturday.

He said that on July 7, Mr. Palaniswami in Mettupalayam claimed that the CPI was without an address and was invisible in the State.

However, at a meeting at Chidambaram on July 16, he said the VCK and the Communist parties should join the AIADMK front, and they would be welcomed with a red carpet, he added.

“What matters is from where the invitation comes and whom the AIADMK has joined. We are rejecting the invitation totally,” he said.

“The AIADMK had been in power for 30 years in Tamil Nadu, and Mr. Palaniswami was the Chief Minister for four years, and he is the opposition leader now. All political parties in the State had started preparing for the 2026 Assembly election and started campaigning for the same. There should be healthy political debates. We expect mature politics from him,” Mr. Mutharasan said.

“The BJP-led Centre was forcing the National Education Policy on Tamil Nadu, which had been following the two-language policy in education even before C.N. Annadurai became the Chief Minister. The BJP government had reconstituted the committee that would appoint members to the Election Commission of India, and it was not following the Constitution. Does Mr. Palaniswami support these policies of the BJP?” he asked.