PETALING JAYA, JULY 22- With battle lines clearly defined, it seems like MIC president G Palanivel has the upper hand in defending the party’s number one post at the MIC presidential election slatted for Sept 22.
With the vast powers vested on the party president where he has a free hand to appoint and fire leaders, Palanivel is definitely making well-calculated moves in an effort to ensure he remains the party chief after Sept 22.
The latest to face his wrath was MIC strategic bureau chief S Vell Paari and MIC Puteri head J Usha Nandhini who were unceremoniously dropped from the party’s all powerful central working committee (CWC) late last week.
While dropping Usha was expected, the axing of Vell Paari, the son of former president S Samy Vellu, came as a surprise to political pundits and party observers.
This is because the exclusion of Vell Paari would mean that Palanivel was declaring war on Samy Vellu and his supporters who are still entrenched strongly in the party.
“This is war. Palanivel is going for the kill,” said one national leader when contacted by FMT as soon as news that Vell Paari has been dropped was released.
Palanivel took helm of the party, which boasts 680,000 members in 3,988 branches nationwide, from Samy Vellu in 2010.
Over the last three years, Palanivel has been strategising and planning things to ensure he stays in power for at least another term, which would run until 2016.
However, his plans may face obstacles with Samy Vellu back in the picture. Sources reveal that the former MIC supremo is pushing for the MIC deputy president and Health Minister Dr S Subramaniam to fight for the top post.
If this were to happen, then Palanivel will have a fight in his hands as Samy Vellu still garners support from 45 to 55 percent of the total branch chairmen who are eligible to vote in the presidential election.
But Palanivel too has been making inroads with the branch chairmen.
“Palanivel has strengthened himself over the last three years. He has been moving silently. The branch chairmen have warmed up to him. During the last general election, he bypassed the divisions and met branch leaders directly to handover money for the elections.
“This has gone down well with the branch chairmen. They did not need to depend on division leaders. This could be a plus point. Another fact is that they are now bypassing other leaders and speaking to Palanivel directly. Actually Palanivel has done everything right so far,” said a MIC CWC leader who declined to be named.
Playing the caste card
Sources also said Palanivel is playing the “caste” card well. It is an open secret that MIC is run using a “caste” system from the days of Samy Vellu.
Although Palanivel axed Vell Paari and Usha Nandhini from the CWC, he replaced them with former vice-president S Sothinathan, and the former deputy president S Subramaniam’s son S Sunder. Both are of the same caste and Palaivel is keen to have total support from this caste.
Samy Vellu and Dr S Subramaniam, meanwhile, are from a different caste.
“This is the truth. Palanivel brought in Sothinathan and Sunder to attract the Kaunders. Those Mukkulathors – which is the caste of Samy Vellu and Dr S Subramaniam – are angry. They want the top seat. Palanivel is neither here nor there being a Mudhaliyar (caste). This is MIC for you,” a MIC leader told FMT.
A veteran MIC leader echoed the sentiment, saying that Palanivel was “a little too late” in dropping Vell Paari.
He also said Samy Vellu made a costly “mistake” by picking Palanivel as his successor.
“Palanivel on the other hand misjudged his deputy Dr S Subramaniam. He thought Subramaniam will not challenge him for the top post. He initially wanted to postpone the presidential election to next year.
“He was shocked by the sudden attack launched by Subramaniam’s supporters in the CWC which forced the election to be held sooner,” he said.
Before dropping Vell Paari and Usha Nandhini, Palanivel axed Samy Vellu’s close allies and veteran leaders like G Rajoo, S Veerasingam and T Marimuthu. They were replaced with S Mahadevan, R Vidyananthan and L Manickam, the state executive council members from Malacca, Johor and Negeri Sembilan, respectively.
“His action will continue. His next target is the vice-president and Federal Territory MIC chief M Saravanan,” said the veteran leader.
“Palanivel will drop Saravanan and appoint MIC treasurer general Jaspal Singh as the new MIC Federal Territory chief. This will be done in the coming weeks. But all this is a bit too late. He should have embarked on changes when he took over in 2010.
“Doing it now makes it look obvious that he is going after Samy Vellu’s hardcore supporters. Doing it just two months before the presidential election makes it look even more obvious,” he added.
The veteran leader further added that Palanivel’s action is long overdue since all the top guns have decided on backing Dr Subramaniam in the presidential election.
With this backdrop, one element is certain – MIC is in for the most exciting presidential election in its 58-year history.
