Kuala Lumpur – Since the moment Deputy Education Minister Kamalanathan announced he is not contesting for Vice Presidency and would only settle for a Central Working Committee seat in the forthcoming MIC elections, speculations swept through MIC members’ minds as to what could be the reason. Tongues started wagging as to what could have possibly happened as according to MIC sources, this election was the best chance for Kamalanathan to move up the ladder in the party’s hierarchy.
Only days ago, Kamalanathan was seen as one of the strong contenders for the Vice Presidency as he would be the only Deputy Minister in the race, if the contest had taken place. The other Deputy Minister in MIC, Datuk M.Saravanan has already announced that he is going for Deputy Presidency.
If records are correct this is the first time in the history of MIC, that a Deputy Minister is not going for the national Vice President’s post despite fair winning chances.
MIC observers were equally shocked as many feel this is the right time for Kamalanathan to enter the race, since all the three Vice Presidential slots are up for grabs without any incumbents.
During the last few days prior to his announcement, Kamalanathan had also spoken to some Division leaders seeking their opinion about his chances if he decides to enter the race.
Above all, it is also rumored that the MIC President himself has privately given his blessings to Kamalanathan to go for Vice Presidency, before leaving for the WHO conference in Guam.
MIC sources said that the President Dato Seri Dr S.Subramaniam is not encouraging anyone to contest or anyone to withdraw and is leaving it to the person’s own judgment as to which post one should contest.
Media reports also suggested that Kamalanathan is set to offer his candidature for one of the Vice President positions.
Invitations were sent to the media that Kamalanathan would announce his candidature for a national position on the 14th of October 2015. The Tamil media reporters who turned up for the exciting news were disappointed to hear Kamalanathan is only going for CWC.
“There is no doubt that Kamalanathan must have withdrawn due to some political pressures. There must be some hidden hands. Where it came from we don’t know. Knowing very well that he had very good chances of clinching one of the Vice Presidential slots, we can’t understand why Kamalanathan backed out at the last minute. There are no incumbents this time and therefore this would have been the best opportunity for him. Next time around it will be an uphill task for him to knock out one of the 3 incumbents. Furthermore, in the coming years, he may also lose his clout in the party without a senior party position. Of course he is not going to talk about the reasons for his withdrawal and therefore different versions of stories and speculations will continue to dominate the minds of MIC delegates as to why he made such a decision” commented one division leader.
MIC sources said Kamalanathan had performed fairly well in the sensitive Education Ministry and is expected to win hands down in the race for one of the 23 CWC members. Probably he may be elected with the highest number of votes because of the sympathy created due to his withdrawal, but that will not stop the delegates from speculating why he withdrew from the Vice Presidential race.
