By Zefry Dahalan
Kapar MP S Manikavasagam said since the day the Hulu Selangor seat fell vacant, Samy Vellu and MIC were forced to plead with Umno.
"Samy Vellu has become a beggar. It is shameful that in the end, he did not have any say in the choice of the candidate. This is a great embarrassment.
“If he has any dignity, the MIC president would step down immediately,” the PKR supreme council member told FMT.
Manikavasagam said there is no point in MIC having a party president who has no clout in BN.
He was responding to the BN's decision to field MIC information chief P Kamalanathan for the April 25 by-election following a protracted tussle over the choice of candidate.
Samy Vellu wanted his deputy G Palanivel to be fielded, but the BN leadership was against this. After a heated discussion, they finally agreed on Kamalanathan.
Palanivel was a four-term Hulu Selangor MP prior to his defeat at the hands of PKR's Zainal Abidin Ahmad in the 2008 general election.
The parliamentary seat fell vacant following Zainal's death on March 25.
MIC should join Pakatan
Commenting further, Manikavasagam said it is shameful that Samy Vellu and MIC bowed to pressure from Umno and agreed to field an “unknown and untested” candidate.
"I also urge disgruntled MIC members to leave the party and join PKR. It would be better if MIC itself quits BN and joins Pakatan Rakyat,” he added.
Meanwhile, Negeri Sembilan PKR vice-chairman M Ravi suggested that MIC dissolve itself and form a new entity called “Umno supporters club”.
“They might as well do this since the party president does not have any role in determining who the MIC candidate would be,” he said.
Ravi also called on Samy Vellu to quit, since he has “lost the respect” of Umno.
"What is he waiting for? The choice of Kamalanathan as the candidate must be the last nail in Samy Vellu's coffin in the context of his political career,” he said.
Also read:
MIC 'defeated' in Hulu Selangor
Kamalanathan to lead BN's charge
