Scores of the Left party members including their state leaders were detained here on Saturday when they held a demonstration without obtaining permission from the police, to express solidarity with the Samsung home appliance workers on protest since September 9.

Communist Party of India state secretary R Mutharasan and CPI (M) state secretary K Balakrishnan who were among those detained by the police, sought the immediate intervention of TN Chief Minister M K Stalin to resolve the strike by the Samsung workers. They stressed that the protesting workers had a right to join a union and alleged that the workers were being oppressed. “The question is: do we have the right to form a union or not?” Mutharasan, asked.