PETALING JAYA: Shah Alam MIC division chairman K Suppaiah today pledged to support Barisan Nasional despite Indians being upset over the choice of candidate for the parliament seat, Zukifli Noordin.
“We are working on the ground not for Zulkifli but for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s leadership,” he told FMT.
Suppaiah said that although MIC and other BN-friendly Indian-based parties supported Najib’s administration, the decision to support Zulkifli is still in the hands of the Indian community.
“From the beginning, we (Shah Alam MIC division) tried to avoid Zulkifli from contesting in our constituency. We even sent a letter to the PM’s Office as well as to the MIC national body.
“However, the PM already made his decision and MIC’s top leadership instructed us to support the PM’s choice of candidate,” he added.
He also pointed out that PM personally promised him to build a hall for the Indian community in Shah Alam and to allocate RM1 million for a local temple.
“Thus, we are not concerned about Zulkifli as we have direct access to the Prime Minister’s Office,” he added.
The division chairman also said that he was not surprised that his division vice-chairman had quit from MIC as a sign of protest against Zulkifli’s candidacy.
“It is his own decision which does not reflect the division’s stand,” he added.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Indian Progressive Association (MIPAS) was disappointed with Najib ‘s decision to defend Zulkifli’s candidacy.
Najib had asked the Indian community to forgive the Perkasa leader for insulting the Hindu religion.
MIPAS leader S Barathidasan said a mere apology from Zulkifli would not suffice.
“We want police to investigate Perkasa for causing disharmony, feelings of hostility and hatred among religions,” he added.
Zulkifli, who won the Kulim Bandar Baharu parliamentary seat as a PKR candidate in 2008, became a BN-friendly independent in 2010 after he was sacked from the party for criticising Pakatan Rakyat leaders.
This time around, Zulkifli would stand as a BN direct candidate against incumbent Shah Alam MP Khalid Samad of PAS, with whom he had a much publicised feud over the use of the word “Allah” by non-Muslims.
Shah Alam is an urban parliament constituency comprise with 100,076 voters where 69.9% are Malays following Chinese and Indians are 14.9% and 14.2% respectively.
