It’s Rajagopalu vs Mogan again in Negeri MIC

One is the party president’s man but the other can count on the support of the deputy president as well as the Menteri Besar

SEREMBAN: An intriguing question being asked in MIC circles is whether K Rajagopalu will be able to retain his position as the party’s boss in Negeri Sembilan or whether he will lose it again to VS Mogan, who is now with party headquarters as information chief. The answer will most likely come only when the 13th general election is concluded.

Rajagopalu is MIC president G Palanivel’s man, but Mogan has the support of both Deputy President Dr S Subramaniam and Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan.

Rajagopalu was the MIC chief in the state before the 2008 election, but he lost his Port Dickson state seat to PKR’s M Ravi in that election and with it his position as state executive councilor. This, in turn, caused him to lose some grip in the running of MIC’s Negeri Sembilan chapter.

S Samy Vellu, who was then party president, eventually moved Rajagopalu to headquarters to take up the post of secretary-general. To replace him in Negeri Sembilan, Samy Vellu picked Mogan, who had outclassed PKR’s K Manoharan in Jeram Padang in the 2008 election and had been given the Estate Affairs and Human Resources portfolio in the executive council.

Mogan, a former teacher, used both his party and government positions to strengthen his support base, tackling many issues plaguing Indians in the estates. He quickly gained popularity.

But Palanivel, after taking over the MIC presidency early this year, moved Mogan to headquarters and brought back Rajagopalu to resume his old position.

As state party chief, Rajagopalu has the clout to decide who should contest where, unless he is overruled by the top leadership.

The speculation within the MIC fraternity is that Rajagopalu, in a bid to regain full power in the state, will not nominate Mogan for any seat in the coming election.

“Rajagopalu himself may contest in Jeram Padang and bring on state deputy chief A Ganesan to contest in Port Dickson and state treasurer R Balakrishnan to vie for the Telok Kemang parliamentary seat,” a MIC branch leader from Rembau told FMT. Ganesan and Balakrishnan are known to be aligned with Rajagopalu.

FMT contacted Mogan for his reaction, but he said: “It’s not right for me to comment on candidacy matters.”

MB a good friend

According to another MIC source, Rajagopalu and Palanivel are trying hard to get back the Rantau state seat, traditionally an MIC seat but now taken over by Umno. Menteri Besar Mohamad is currently the assemblyman for the constituency.

It is possible that MIC will get Rantau back because Mohamad may be contesting for the parliamentary seat of Rembau. No one is sure which seat MIC will give to Umno in exchange, but there is a high probability that it will be Jeram Padang, Mogan’s seat. It has a larger proportion of Malay voters than Port Dickson.

If this happens, Rajagopalu may contest in Rantau and Mogan’s career may be over. Ironically, Mogan is the Rembau MIC chief and Rantau lies within the Rembau parliamentary seat.

But all is not lost yet for Mogan. MIC insiders say they expect Deputy President Subramaniam to insist on him contesting in either Jeram Padang or Rantau if Umno is willing to swap seats. They say Subramaniam has the support of Samy Vellu’s men in MIC’s Central Working Committee.

Mogan could probably count on the Menteri Besar’s support as well. The two are good friends.