Will Kula leave his comfort zone?

The spotlight is now on the Ipoh Barat MP as DAP hints at fielding the stalwart to take on MIC in Segamat.

Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star

NOW that DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang and political education director Liew Chin Tong have confirmed they are contesting in Johor, the spotlight is on another DAP stalwart, Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran, to head south as well and take on MIC in Segamat.

Will Kulasegaran surprise everyone by leaving his comfort zone in Ipoh Barat and head to Segamat to do battle with MIC’s number two, Datuk S. Subramaniam?

Lim will be battling in the more risky Gelang Patah constituency while Liew is going for Kluang.

For now, Kulasegaran’s official stand on the matter is that he would go if the party orders him to do so because the party has done so much for him.

He is prepared to leave behind a lucrative legal practice, a close-knit group of family and friends, a new house in a gated community, a party “structure” that keeps him afloat, to do battle with Subramaniam.

He is prepared to risk everything and help DAP achieve its aim to turn Johor into a frontline state in Pakatan Rakyat’s dream of capturing Putrajaya.

“If I have to go I will go, knowing well I could lose,” he told Tamil newspapers. “Segamat is a tough seat.”

The Perak cousins state party chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham and secretary Nga Kor Ming with whom Kulasegaran has had a running battle since 2008, would be very happy to see the last of him.

“We are prepared to throw a lavish goodbye party as we did for Lim last week,” said an Indian supporter of the cousins.

“It will be an unforgettable event for Kulasegaran,” he said in jest.

The other key Indian DAP leaders in Perak Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam and Tronoh assemblyman V. Sivakumar as well as their many supporters would also be happy to be rid of him.

The bad blood between Kula, as he is fondly known, and the cousins started in 2008 when he wanted to become the mayor of Ipoh and blamed the cousins for not trying hard to get the post for him.

Their estrangement worsened in 2012 when the cousins fielded a team which wiped out a rival team fielded by Kulasegaran for the DAP state line-up.

The tit-for-tat war between the two teams continued right up to Lim’s farewell dinner last week when Kulasegaran sent out a tweet, challenging the cousins to take him on.

On the night of the dinner, however, they appeared friendly and seemed to put aside their differences to send off the boss.

The question is whether Kulasegaran will do his many rivals a favour by leaving for Johor.

Subramaniam won the seat in 2008 with a majority of 2,971 votes against DAP’s Pang Hok Liong and if Kulasegaran or any other party heavyweight is fielded, the chances of success is slim.

Kulasegaran is reportedly being unwilling to take the risk because up to 45% of voters are from Felda schemes and are strong supporters of Barisan Nasional.

He has also calculated that going against another Indian leader would anger the Indian community.

They would not take too kindly to it as it would be a loss to the community if Kulasegaran or Subramaniam is defeated.

“Either way, one recognised Indian leader would be sacrificed just to achieve Pakatan’s foolhardy dream,” said an Indian pensioner.

“Kula should not go to Johor,” he added.

This kind of thinking was one consideration that the late DAP leader, P. Patto, had to battle when he took on former MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu in the Sungai Siput constituency in 1995.

The Patto-Samy Vellu fight is a lesson often cited by Indian observers who want as many Indian MPs as possible in Parliament, irrespective of party affliliation.

A DAP insider was confident that DAP would not order Kula to go because this would work against the interest of the Lim dynasty, referring to elder Lim and his son and secretary-general, Guan Eng.

“They need in-fighting and squabbles in state DAPs and ordering Kula to Johor removes one source of disunity in Perak,” he said. “They often use chaos as a strategy to manage and control their party.”

He also said they needed Kulasegaran in Perak to question the cousins and keep them and their minions in check.

“This will keep the cousins from growing and prevent them from forming alliances with other state DAP warlords and threatening the father-son dynasty,” he said.

If this is true, Kulasegaran appears to be staying put in Ipoh Barat and Subramaniam is unlikely to face a DAP heavyweight in Segamat.

But there could be other DAP heavyweights who might want to do battle with Subramaniam in Segamat.