> Samy to leave MIC

Politics is the art of the possible and impossible possibilities becoming impossibilities and vice-versa. MIC president S Samy Vellu stands out among those who have mastered the art.

Just two years ago, he backed G Palanivel to challenge and successfully oust incumbent S Subramaniam for the deputy president's post.

Prior to that, Subramaniam had been stripped of his government post by the party supremo when he was dropped as MIC candidate for the Segamat parliamentary seat in the 2004 general election.

Now, Samy Vellu is said to be planning a reconciliation with his old nemesis Subramaniam to oust Palanivel, with whom the MIC leader no longer sees eye-to-eye.

Palanivel was widely regarded as Samy Vellu's successor as party president.

Insiders stressed however, that Samy Vellu only wanted Palanivel as an interim deputy to eventually make way for another stalwart, S Sothinathan.

The Samy Vellu-Palanivel partnership can be described as rocky at best, and things boiled over just before the March general election, in which many MIC leaders, including the party president and Palanivel, were booted out by voters across the country.

Just before MIC's humiliating performance on March 8, Palanivel is believed to have told Barisan Nasional chairman and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi that "he was ready to take over MIC" from beleaguered Samy Vellu, who had lost his commanding influence among Malaysian Indians.

Now, Samy Vellu is learnt to be lining up Subramaniam, a former deputy minister, against Palanivel in next year's party election.With tacit support from Samy Vellu, Subramaniam will likely defeat Palanivel and be ready to take over the presidency when the long-serving president steps down.

According to party sources, Sothinathan will seek re-election as a vice-president and place himself as the next in line to take over from Subramaniam.

Current member of parliament for Segamat, Dr S Subramaniam, is now the party's secretary- general and the only MIC cabinet minister.

Dr Subramaniam may also want to be in the frame of leadership, but it all depends on whether MIC delegates, predominantly the president's men, want him or not.

A local leader said at present, former Teluk Kemang parliamentarian Sothinathan should win against Dr Subramaniam because "he has been more vocal than the Segamat MP".

If so, whither Palanivel?

MIC losing relevance fast

MIC insiders suggest the isolated deputy president has now rested all hopes on Najib Abdul Razak, with whom he has close links, becoming the prime minister next March to safeguard his political career.

However, one has to realise that MIC elects its president a few months before holding the one-day party poll to elect other top national leaders.

This will give Samy Vellu, who intends to seek re-election, ample time to prepare the groundwork for the eventual demise of Palanivel.

Samy's hatred for Palanivel is so strong that even those seen talking to the deputy president have often ended up in the bad books of the president.

A fine example is the recently sacked Bayan Baru MIC division leader M Nganasegaran in Penang, who is learnt was given a dressing down by Samy Vellu for associating with Palanivel during the recent Permatang Pauh by-election.

Samy has frequently told several MIC leaders and members that Palanivel is a traitor who has backstabbed him.

Nganasegaran's close relationship with Palanivel caused his fallout with Samy Vellu and eventually led him to PKR last week with some 3,500 MIC members.

It is that learnt Samy Vellu is attempting to bring back another sacked local leader, L Balasupramaniyam, to revive the collapsed Bayan Baru MIC division.

Balasupramaniyam, the former Taman Hye Keat branch leader, was expelled from MIC two years ago for some misconduct best known to the party president and certain local leaders.

After a failed attempt to resurrect his political career by joining the Malaysian Indian United Party led by K S Nallakaruppan on Nov 25 last year, he joined PKR just after the general election.

Certain state MIC leaders are learnt to have contacted him to rejoin the party and revive MIC's Bayan Baru branch.

If it happens, it would be a satisfactory tit-for-tat for the party president and to compensate for the loss of Nganasegaran to PKR.

The Hindraf factor

As he works overtime to resurrect MIC's place in mainstream politics, Samy Vellu seemingly accomplished a minor coup by getting the the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) banned.

Although it was the Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar who wielded the axe on Hindraf, many Indians blame the ban on Samy Vellu.

With Hindraf being declared a ‘foul' word in social activism, MIC's path seems clear to rebrand and reposition itself as the legitimate voice of the Indian community.

It's been an open secret for a long time that Samy Vellu has been harbouring hopes of establishing a different Hindraf that would be subservient to his authority.

The new Hindraf would possibly be led by some pro-MIC community leaders, especially those who claim to be the original founders of the movement.

The new Hindraf would claim to champion the Indian cause while tacitly supporting MIC and Barisan Nasional, a tactic Samy Vellu hopes would confuse the community and sway them back to MIC.

Critics cynically said breaking up Hindraf and the community was the main motivating factor that compelled Samy Vellu to ‘swallow his spit' and pretend to champion the release of the Hindraf 5: P Uthayakumar, 47, T Vasanthakumar, 35, M Manoharan, 47, R Kenghadharan, 41, and V Ganabatirau, 35. The five have been detained under the Internal Security Act since Dec 13.

Observers, however, say Samy Vellu is still in a state of denial, believing that the electoral backlash against BN is only temporary. He is painfully oblivious to the fact that many Indians have joined either PKR or DAP to champion their rights.

"Many Indians do not believe in Samy Vellu and MIC any longer," an observer said, denying that the Indian hatred towards Samy Vellu was created by Hindraf.

"It was always there."

The emergence of Hindraf has only ‘let the pigeons out' and instilled courage among Indians to move out from under BN-MIC patronage.

The only thing helping MIC now is the unimpressive performance of certain Indian legislators from Pakatan Rakyat, notably in Penang.

But then, Samy Vellu remains the main stumbling block for MIC in reaching out to the community it claims to represent.

Many feel that only after he goes, can MIC re-establish itself and its relevance in the Malaysian political landscape.

Perhaps it's high time Samy Vellu went - Malaysiakini.