DAP to reduce Indian MPs?

DAP has been accused of sidelining its Indian leaders by reducing the number of MP seats to be given to them for the GE.

PETALING JAYA: Indian leaders in DAP are deeply concerned and worried that the party would reduce the number of seats given to them for the coming general election.

Their fear stems from movements within the party to allocate seats, especially parliamentary seats, to parachute candidates and new faces who are mostly Chinese.

The Indian leaders who spoke to FMT on condition of anonymity for fear of party reprisal said todate the party has not made any moves to dispel their fears.

“Instead, based on what we are hearing and seeing, it looks clear that the party leadership is seriously thinking of dropping some of the incumbent Indian MPs,” said a party leader.

The leaders told FMT that the DAP leadership could only offer four to five MP seats at most to Indian leaders, including to the incumbents.

“Parliamentary seats that could be taken back to be given to non-Indian candidates include Batu Kawan, Seremban, Teluk Intan and Klang,” said the source.

Batu Kawan was won by P Ramasamy, Teluk Intan by M Manogaran, Klang by Charles Santiago and Seremban by John Fernandez in 2008. They are all first-time MPs.

The other MP seats held by Indians in DAP are Puchong (Gobind Singh), Bukit Gelugor (Karpal Singh) and Ipoh Barat (M Kulasegaran).

“The party leadership has been silent on the fate of these MPs. From what we gather, some of them could be dropped,” said the source.

Lost Indian support

However, another Indian leader in the party said not all four of the leaders could be dropped.

“Maybe two, and the other two could be reassigned to contest elsewhere,” he said.

DAP Indian leaders also pointed out that not only incumbents were in danger, but also several grassroots leader who were promised seats and now told that those seats would be allocated to others.

“These grassroots leaders had been working in their respective areas for almost three years, but now they are being told by the party leadership to give way for the sake of party’s unity.

“The problem is that after 2008 general election, the party had attracted so many new faces, mostly from the Chinese community, and now they feel that it is their right to contest in the election.

“The party leadership is also seemingly in support of this move. DAP is proving itself to be just another Chinese party,” said an Indian leader from the party.

Indians were given 10 parliamentary seats in the 2008 general election although only eight were taken up. Of the eight, the Indian candidates won seven, losing only in Cameron Highlands.

FMT learnt that this time around, the Indian leaders had actually asked for 17 MP seats, only to be shocked by the party’s decision to cut it drastically to only four or five at most.

“The DAP leadership realises that Pakatan has lost the Indian support. It has also lost the Hindraf support. As such, they feel there is no need to cater for the Indian community. That is why they are reducing the number of Indian candidates,” claimed a party leader.

“So far they have not announced a single Indian seat that would be contested in this GE. Why the delay if they have no issues about retaining the very least the seven seats won by Indians in the last general election?” asked an MP whose own position in still unknown.

When contacted, a party official said these Indian leaders should wait for official announcement from the party before jumping to any conclusion.