MIC elections witness confusion, tension

MIC's first party elections since 2009, which sees the top two positions uncontested, ended after a lengthy affair in Malacca today which witnessed confusion and also some early morning tension.

The fact that there are 96 candidates vying for top positions; eight for three vice-president seats and a party record of 88 for 23 central working committee (CWC) seats, was always bound to create tension and bizzare campaigning methods.

And the day started with former CWC member KP Samy allegedly throwing Tamil daily Tamil Nesan's newspapers in the dustbin after reading a "negative" report about him in the paper, causing him to be confronted by the paper's owner, S Vell Paari, the son of former president S Samy Vellu.

Though the election ended without any major incidences, it was not without its share of terse moments as delegates appeared confused about their voting turns, causing them to flood the lobby of the hotel where the election is taking place.

It also did not help that the media personnel were denied from covering the election process proper, with photographers also denied the opportunity to take pictures of the voting process.

Eight models roped in

A running sideshow to the contest were some of the candidates' odd way of campaigning, including former Youth chief T Mohan, now vying for a vice-president post, handing out T-shirts to rickshaw drivers near the hotel which calls for delegates to vote for Mohan.

A textile giant, R Raghu Moorthy, brought along eight models from his saree clothing line to campaign for him and urging delegates to back his bid to be elected to the CWC.

Incumbent vice-presidents M Saravanan and SK Devamany are both facing a tough time to retain their positions thanks to the eight-cornered fight.

Even if the duo do retain their posts, there would still be a closely fought battle to fill up the third VP post because the seat has been vacant since Samy Vellu vacated his president's seat in 2010, which in turn resulted in S Subramaniam moving up to deputy president from vice-president.

Among those in running are party treasurer-general Jaspal Singh, Mohan, another former Youth chief A Vigneswaran, and former deputy minister S Sothinathan.

The election counting process is currently ongoing and is expected to be announced later tonight.