Few days after he accused the Communist parties of having an agenda to oppose the Central and state Governments, Chief Minister M Karunanidhi on Monday said his party had not taken any anti-Communist stance and that the Left was still a constituent of the Democratic Progressive Alliance (DPA) in the state.

His comments, published in the party mouthpiece Murasoli on Monday, follows his statement that the DPA would be strengthened if the PMK returns to the fold, from where it was ousted few months ago.

Reacting to CPI general secretary A B Bardhan’s charge that the DMK was leading a campaign against the Left in Tamil Nadu, Karunanidhi claimed he was a follower of the Communist principles. Had he not met legendary reformer ‘Periyar’ EV Ramasamy and former chief minister CN Annadurai, he wouldn’t have become a communist cadre, said Karunanidhi.

He said he had warned one of the seniormost leaders of his party, Arcot N Veerasamy, when he spoke against the comrades. “I had expressed my reservations against Veerasamy’s comments in an article, and had directed the party cadre not to comment on alliance parties till a decision was taken on continuation of the partnership,” Karunanidhi stated in his piece.

A few days ago, the CM had issued a statement saying the Left parties were waiting to pull out from the alliance and were using the Indo-US nuclear deal as a cover. In reply, the CPI leaders charged DMK had launched a tirade against the Communist parties.