MIC ‘defeated’ in Hulu Selangor
Now Samy Vellu has to swallow his pride and back Kamalanathan, setting aside the fact that it is Umno, and not MIC, which delivered the final verdict.
Free Malaysia Today
P Kamalanathan is the compromise candidate for the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat, and while certain quarters describe this as a “win-win” situation, the reality however is a bitter pill for MIC.
To put it bluntly, MIC has been dealt a slap, leaving its leaders red-faced with embarrassment.
The Barisan Nasional leadership, or rather the coalition’s big brother Umno, has rejected MIC president S Samy Vellu’s first choice, none other than his deputy G Palanivel.
Now Samy Vellu has to swallow his pride and back Kamalanathan, setting aside the fact that it is Umno, and not MIC, which delivered the final verdict.
He would have to rally his demoralised soldiers on the ground to swing into action, after days of confusion as to who would be the candidate.
To make matters worse, if Kamalanathan wins, the MIC president would have nothing to gloat about, since it would be evident that it was the Umno gamble which paid off.
Samy Vellu would also have to convince Palanivel’s supporters, who are seething with anger, that their leader had been led by the nose ring to the slaughter house.
It is an open secret that Palanivel wanted to contest in this by-election in order to pave the way for his return to Parliament, and possibly back into the Cabinet.
He was never keen on using the rear door to access the corridors of power, something which DAP leader Lim Kit Siang never fails to remind Gerakan president Koh Tsu Koon of.
Palanivel has always attributed his razor-thin defeat in the last general election to external forces, namely former Selangor menteri besar Dr Mohd Khir Toyo’s infamous “broom gift”, rather than a decline in support for him.
To his credit, Hulu Selangor witnessed almost 1,500 spoilt votes wheras the majority was a mere 198 votes in the 2008 general election.
