By-election test for the MIC leadership
By Zubaidah Abu Bakar (NST)
SO soon after the completion of its 63rd MIC general assembly, the MIC is again being put to a vote by Indian Malaysians as the Bagan Pinang by-election looms.
And Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and his team of leaders who were elected over the weekend are really racing against time as polling has been set for Oct 11.
The outcome of this state by-election will confirm whether it is true as claimed that Indians have indeed started to return to the fold of the MIC, the main Indian-based party in Barisan Nasional.
Considering several unresolved issues involving the Indian community, the MIC would have a lot to do to secure the Indian vote.
The herculean task is further burdened with uncertainty over which way the support of the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) would be going.
Despite being banned, Hindraf is said to still have many followers among the 20.74 per cent or 2,834 Indians out of Bagan Pinang's 13,664 voters.
Hindraf had done a lot of damage to the Barisan Nasional in the March 2008 general election, using the perceived marginalisation of the Indian community as its main agenda.
Indians in Bagan Pinang too did not hesitate to give their votes to Pas in the last general election; Pas won in three of the four polling districts where the majority voters are Indians — Ladang Atherton (81 per cent Indians), Pekan Siliau (76 per cent) and Sua Betong (67 per cent).
In Ladang Bradwall where 66 per cent voters are Indians, Pas lost by only two votes, though overall its candidate Ramli Ismail was defeated by a 2,333 vote majority by Barisan Nasional's Azman Mohammad Noor, who died on Sept 4 to pave the way for this by-election.
Malays comprise 62.77 per cent or 8,577 voters, Chinese 10.96 per cent or 1,498 voters and the remaining 5.54 per cent or 755 have been categorised as others.
Samy Vellu, the long-time MIC president and his men may have been given the mandate by party delegates to lead but that does not necessarily translate into the support of the whole Indian community.
Will Samy Vellu camp in Bagan Pinang for three weeks and continuously harp on how the Indian community was neglected in Pakatan Rakyat states like he did in Bukit Selambau?
This strategy did work for Bukit Selambau to some extent as the results saw a small shift of Indian votes which made up 29.5 per cent or 10,000 of the total voters, to Barisan Nasional.
However, this alone is of course insufficient for MIC to claim the Indians are now back with his party and Barisan Nasional.
Those who returned to Barisan Nasional then were the rural Indians living in estates and continuous aid in cash and kind could have made them feel obliged to give their support.
Will the Indians in estates in Bagan Pinang also enjoy the same benefits?
Samy Vellu is not about to take Bagan Pinang lightly — the forthcoming by-election after all is an attention-grabbing affair as prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had in no uncertain term told the MIC, after its intensely fought internal elections, to close ranks and work hard to regain the support of the Indian community.
While it will be Datuk G. Palanivel's first task after being re-elected as deputy president to spearhead the MIC campaign in Batang Pinang, it is left to be seen whether defeated deputy president candidates Datuk S. Sothinathan, who is former Teluk Kemang member of parliament and the party's Teluk Kemang division chief and former MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam, will be actively campaigning there too.
Caught between two feuding political blocs — the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat which are both striving for power — many Indians are now taking the middle path as they are not happy with both coalitions in handling issues related to the Indian community.
While they are still reluctant to go back to Barisan Nasional, they are also beginning to realise that the lack of experience had resulted in the Pakatan Rakyat governments to perform below expectations.
MIC now aims to deliver the Indian votes and ensure the Barisan Nasional is not defeated in another by-election by the Pakatan Rakyat in the peninsula.
Should this be achieved, the glow of light from the traditional vilakku — oil lamps fashioned out of clay used to celebrate Deepavali, the Hindu celebration that marks the triumph of good over evil, in less than a week from polling day, will be brighter.
Or, will there be light at all?
