Seat issue: Discontent grows against president

While seat distribution in MIC nears its completion, there is growing discontent against the party chief G Palanivel.

PETALING JAYA: MIC has finally confirmed that it will contest nine parliamentary and 19 state assembly seats in the upcoming 13th general election, maintaining its status quo on the Barisan Nasional seat allocation.

However, party sources claimed that while the largest Indian-based party in the country has managed to secure all the seats it contested at the last elections under the BN banner, a few state seats are causing problems for president G Palanivel.

A party source claimed Palanivel’s decision to field a 61-year-old MIC veteran as the BN candidate in the Hutan Melintang, Perak, state assembly constituency has ruffled feathers in the division.

“He [Palanivel] is really a peculiar man. When other component party leaders are looking for new blood, the MIC president goes for an unknown veteran leader as his choice. The discontent against Palanivel is growing and may peak after nomination day,” he said.

Sources reveal that the party supremo wanted to field Melintang Maju branch chairman Dr M Appalanaidu as the candidate for the seat after the Perak BN leadership rejected state MIC deputy chairman R Ganesan.

Palanivel, from the start, had insisted on wanting to give the seat to Ganesan, knowing well that Menteri Besar Zambry Abdul Kadir was not in favour of the move.

“The party may lose the seat again to PKR. The state BN does not want Ganesan to contest as he is known to carry excess baggage. This will definitely be used by the opposition in campaigns if he contests the seat,” said the source.

Hutan Melintang, located near Teluk Intan, has about 21,000 registered voters. In the 2008 general election, PKR’s S Kesavan defeated S Thangasvari of MIC by a 1,721 vote margin.

The party source also claimed that Palanivel is having problems in several other state seats. His decision to swap some seats with other BN component parties has riled up grassroots leaders and members alike.

“We in Perak are curious as to why Palanivel agreed to swap the state assembly seats when the chances of winning these new seats are slimmer than the original seats,” the source questioned.

He said MIC’s possible three “new” seats as a result of seat swapping – Buntong, Jalong and Tronoh – were all DAP strongholds.

“We are really confused with Palanivel’s winning formula… How can it be a winning formula if all your seats are in tough constituencies. The party stands a better chance of winning back its old seats,” he added.

In the last election, MIC lost all four state seats – Hutan Melintang, Behrang, Pasir Panjang and Sungkai – it contested in Perak.

Confused president

Meanwhile, a party central working committee(CWC) member said Palanivel is “confused” with the candidate selection process.

“He is having a hard time choosing candidates especially for state seats. Even the CWC is not clear on who the state seat candidates would be,” he added.

MIC’s 19 state seats come from Perak and Johor (four each), Selangor (three), Kedah, Penang and Negeri Sembilan (two each) and Malacca and Pahang (one each).

“From Kedah to Johor, almost every state has a candidate problem,” said the source.

According to the source, the MIC president was having difficulty in choosing candidates for seats like Lunas in Kedah, Perai (Penang), Hutan Melintang (Perak), Port Dickson (Negeri Sembilan), Permas and Tenggaroh (both in Johor) and Sabai (Pahang).

“All the seats have more than two names in the candidates list. He has to choose the right candidate who would make an impact among voters. It is a do or die not only for the party but also the president,” said the source.

It is learnt that Palanivel’s choice of candidates for the above seats had been shot down by respective state BN leaderships.