Samy-Palanivel war imminent
Several sources said Samy Vellu had laid the groundwork for killing off Palanivel’s political career and had directed several party leaders to gather evidence of his alleged wrongdoings during the Hulu Selangor polls.
By M Kumaran, Free Malaysia Today
KUALA LUMPUR: MIC is sitting on a time bomb that could explode in a matter of days.
There is talk that a full-scale war is shaping up between party president S Samy Vellu and deputy president G Palanivel, who takes his oath as senator today.
Party sources said the first shots could be fired soon after Samy Vellu returns from a trip to India. He is due back tomorrow.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak decided against fielding Palanivel in the recently concluded Hulu Selangor by-election although he was widely speculated to be the Barisan Nasional candidate when the seat fell vacant with the death of Zainal Abidin Ahmad of PKR.
As a trade-off, BN offered Palanivel a senatorship and a deputy minister’s post so that he could eventually take over the reins of the party, which is struggling to win back the support of the Indian community.
MIC is the largest Indian-based political party in the country, claiming a membership of 630,000.
A party insider said: “Samy Vellu is not happy with Palanivel getting the senatorship. He was not even informed about it. He got to know about it through aides and other sources.
“He got the confirmation only when Palanivel sent him a SMS thanking him for the Dewan Negara seat. Samy Vellu knows Palanivel’s elevation as a senator is just one of the many steps the BN leadership is taking to ensure that he resign as president.”
“One of the first things we expect him to do once he gets back is to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Palanivel in an attempt to throw a spanner in the works of the BN leadership, which wants a smooth transition of power in the party.
“He is not keen on letting Palanivel take the helm.”
The source said Samy Vellu would prefer party vice president and Human Resources Minister Dr S Subramaniam since they belonged to the same caste.
He said talk was rife that the party’s disciplinary board would haul up Palanivel and charge him with sabotaging the Hulu Selangor by-election.
