Waytha: Hindraf can help PH win 31 parliamentary seats
(FMT) – Hindraf is confident of delivering the Indian vote for Pakatan Harapan (PH), saying it will help the opposition coalition capture 31 parliamentary and 59 state seats.
However, P Waythamoorthy, who is chairman of the Indian rights NGO said this was “on the assumption” that the electoral boundaries remained the same and that the Chinese and Malay communities continued to back PH.
“I can assure you with Hindraf going to the ground and campaigning for PH, we can deliver,” he said at a forum titled “Pakatan Menuju Putrajaya”, held at the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall today.
Also present were DAP’s Zaid Ibrahim and Amanah president Mohamad Sabu.
Waytha said he had devised a plan to capture these seats, adding that he was “certain” of winning 16 of the 31 parliamentary seats, including Bagan Datuk whose current MP is Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.
The Umno vice-president won the seat with a majority of 2,108 votes in the last general election, beating PKR’s Madhi Hasan.
However, Waytha pointed out that there were over 9,000 Indians in the constituency.
“Bagan Datuk is a rural seat and rural Indians will listen to Hindraf.
“Almost every other rural family in the country is connected to Hindraf in one way or another, and we are able to ensure not a single vote is given to BN.”
He said Hindraf was also confident of winning the Merbok and Pasir Gudang parliamentary seats, but that it needed time to plan and strategise.
The PH “war room” must also be ready, he said.
“We want a real partnership with PH so that we can go to the ground and deliver,” he said.
He added that he hoped differences could be cast aside in order to topple BN.
Waytha’s declaration today of helping the opposition secure the Indian vote came almost a month after he expressed confidence that the movement could mobilise Malaysian Indians to back PH at the next polls.
In August, Waytha said Hindraf’s role was critical in delivering the Indian vote to PH, and that they would be the kingmakers in swaying the outcome against BN in marginal seats.
This followed his unprecedented meeting with PH chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad, which saw talks centred around the prospect of Hindraf becoming PH’s fifth component or an affiliate of the opposition coalition.
Hindraf came into prominence in 2007 after tens of thousands of Indians took part in a protest it organised in Kuala Lumpur, accusing the government of marginalising Malaysian Indians.
The group was widely credited for opposition gains in the general election a year later, when BN candidates were defeated in constituencies with a large concentration of Indian voters.
However, Hindraf shifted its support to BN just before the 2013 polls, following a memorandum of understanding signed with the ruling coalition promising to uplift the Indian community.
