MIC to stage second show of strength

Party sources claim the latest gathering is to "counter" the successful Ponggal celebration organised by MIC vice-president M Saravanan.

PETALING JAYA: After successfully staging the “unity Ponggal” celebration at Dataran Merdeka some three weeks ago, MIC is planning its “second show of strength” in Selangor soon.

The party, touted to be the largest Indian-based political party in the country, would hold a mammoth gathering of 50,000 to 80,000 Indian voters in Selangor early next month.

The party is targeting to bring together its members and Indian voters to explain to them the good of the MIC and Barisan Nasional.

“We are hoping to gather about 50,000 to 80,000 MIC members who are eligible voters. We will also launch our election machinery at the gathering. This is just to show our strength and unity.”

“The event is being organised not only by the party leadership but also involves all branch chairmen in Selangor,” party treasurer Jaspal Singh told FMT today.

He, however, said the event was still at its planning stage and nothing has been finalised.

“We have yet to confirm the time and place. We have also not decided on who and how many BN leaders would attend. But it will be held before the dissolution of Parliament,” he added.

The party, after a lull, organised the “unity Ponggal” celebration attended by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak earlier this month. It attracted some 80,000 to 100,000 Malaysian Indians.

That event was hailed as a success by Najib in his speech, giving the party a glimmer of hope for the future.

MIC went into slumber after a devastating 2008 general election defeat. It won only three out of the nine parliamentary seats contested. It won a fourth seat at a by-election held in 2010. The then president S Samy Vellu and Palanivel were both defeated at the election, which also saw the ruling BN lose its long held two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The bruising defeat forced Samy Vellu to relinquish his post after more than 20 years at the helm. Palanivel took charge of the party in 2009.

Open secret

At the 2008 general election, the Malaysian Indian community had turned its backs on the MIC and BN and efforts to woo the community back to the BN fell on MIC.

However, to the dismay of the BN, MIC failed to move under the new president. Although the party organised a couple of mammoth gatherings, all failed to bear fruit until the “unity Ponggal” celebration. It was the first time the party managed to bring together more than 50,000 Indians in one venue.

Party sources, however, claim that the latest gathering organised in Selangor is to “counter” the “unity Ponggal” celebration, which was organised by MIC vice-president M Saravanan, who is also Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Deputy Minister.

“The president [Palanivel] is the Selangor MIC state chairman. If the Selangor MIC wants to organise something, the announcements must come from either Palanivel or the deputy or even the state MIC secretary.

“But this is not the case. The national treasurer is an appointed post. He is not even elected. Asking Jaspal to organise a gathering is something not done before. I think Palanivel just wants to show he is in control of the party.

“He does not want other leaders taking the limelight. Saravanan did that through the Ponggal show and this has irked several top leaders,” said a party source, who did not want to identified.

FMT learnt that apart from Jaspal no other national leaders are part of the organising committee. It is an open secret in the party that Jaspal is aligned to Palanivel, who appointed him to the post in the first place.