Bukit Mertajam, May 3 – After hitting initial snags in their campaigns due to internal strife, MIC is now back on track to secure the much needed Indian votes in the Permatang Pauh by-election.
Realising that the Indian voters are crucial in BN’s efforts to register a decent performance, MIC has injected professionalism into their campaigns and MIC sources in Permatang Pauh claimed that the party has made impressive inroads into areas where Indian voters are in big numbers.
Leading the campaign in the constituency is MIC division chairman Suresh Muniandy, an Engineer by profession, who has been appointed as the Coordinator for BN for Indian votes in the constituency. All the 23 MIC branches in the constituency have pledged their support for him and are working closely to achieve their target of garnering at least 3,000 Indian votes in favour of BN.
Suresh Muniandy’s team is said to be focusing on the Polling districts that have high number of Indian voters by assigning specific leaders to monitor and improve the situation in their respective areas.
A recent BERNAMA report quoted MIC Deputy President Dato Seri Dr S.Subramaniam as saying that MIC is confident of securing 3,000 Indian votes and that the bulk of Indian voters are in Seberang Jaya where there are more than 500 voters in each of the five polling districts.
Zahid Hamidi steps in to clear appointment of “Coordinator”
MIC sources in Permatang Pauh said the key reason for MIC to overcome their internal bickering was the appointment of Suresh Muniandy as the Coordinator for Indian voters in the Constituency.
Media briefing where Zahid Hamidi announced appointment of Suresh Muniandy as Coordinator for Indian voters
Initial announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that PPP’s Penang state leader Datuk Loga Bala Mohan will be the coordinator for Indian voters in Permatang Pauh did not go down well with the local MIC branches.
MIC sources said that MIC Deputy President Dr Subra quickly stepped in to register the party’s objections to Home Minister Zahid Hamidi who was the BN Coordinator for Permatang Pauh.
In consequence, when Zahid Hamidi visited MIC’s operations, in a media briefing, in the presence of Dr Subra and other MIC branches, he publicly announced that Suresh Muniandy would be appointed as the Coordinator for Indian voters. Zahid also clarified that Loga Bala Mohan would assist him personally.
That timely announcement by Zahid paved the way for MIC division under Suresh Muniandy to put aside their objections and to spearhead their election machinery and it is bearing fruits now.
Formidable challenge posed by opposition and issues
However it is not an easy task for MIC to convince Indian voters to vote in favour of BN given the prevailing sympathy for Anwar and his family and a host of other negative public perceptions against BN and Prime Minister Najib due to GST and 1 MDB issues. Tun Mahathir’s continuous barrage of criticisms against Najib is also not helping the BN machinery.
Pakatan Rakyat and PKR’s Indian leaders led by Penang Deputy Chief Minister Dr Ramasamy are spearheading their campaigns to garner Indian votes for Wan Azizah and MIC is also devising strategies to face these challenges posed by opposition Indian leaders.
Other state MIC leaders such as M.Karuppannan (Chairman MIC Penang State Liaison committee) and Dato Henry Benedict Asirvatham (Deputy Chairman MIC Penang State Liaison Committee) have also put aside their differences and have taken up specific roles in the campaign to secure Indian votes.
Permatang Pauh division leader Suresh Muniandy is closely aligned to Deputy President Dr Subra whereas Karuppannan and Henry are closely aligned to party President Palanivel.
The national leaders have also joined the campaign rounds in Permatang Pauh. Palanivel and Dr Subra attended DPM’s candidature announcement last week and since then have been making their rounds separately. Palanivel was there for the nominations and attended some functions with Muhyiddin Yassin on last Thursday.
Dr Subra also made some visits to the constituency and MIC sources said he is expected to spend next two days there with his team to help MIC make a last minute push for Indian voters.
However, everyone knows that all the efforts by the BN component parties are only to reduce the majority of Wan Azizah as winning the PKR’s stronghold seat is an impossible mission.
The by-election scheduled on May 7 will see Suhaimi Sabudin (BN), PKR President Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, Azman Shah Othman (Parti Rakyat Malaysia) and Salleh Ishak (Independent) involved in a four-cornered fight.
-R.Mutharasan
.
