Pakatan courts Subra to trigger exodus from MIC
By Baradan Kuppusamy, The Malaysian Insider
Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has started making advances towards Datuk S. Subramaniam and several of his key men just a day after the MIC veteran was defeated in a three-cornered contest to be deputy president of the Barisan Nasional (BN) party.
Also being wooed is K.P.Samy, the Klang businessman and event manager S. P. Manivasagam, both of whom had won as Central Working Committee members in Saturday’s party polls.
The Malaysian Insider understands that while PKR is said to be interested in Subramaniam, the DAP is more interested in K.P. Samy as they see him as a credible Indian grassroots leader in Selangor with connections to the Hindraf movement.
Samy is being courted by top DAP leaders like Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran and Penang Deputy Chief Minister Prof Dr P. Ramasamy, sources said, adding that he was seen as someone who was able to fill a vacuum in the DAP’s Indian leadership in Selangor.
Samy however is waiting for Subramaniam to make the big decision — to stay in MIC, join Pakatan Rakyat or take over one of the newly set-up Indian political parties.
Hundreds of thousands of MIC members who have been loyal to Subramaniam in the past four decades are expected to leave the MIC and follow Subramaniam, whatever direction he takes.
Subramaniam is weighing whether to leave before he is sacked or wait for the outcome of the disciplinary action charges he is facing which most likely lead to his expulsion from the party.
When contacted PKR leader Tian Chua said that while the party keeps an “open door policy,” he claimed it was not keen to court any MIC leader because they may no longer be relevant in national politics.
“There are leaders who simply want to extend their shelf life in politics and might cross over from other parties where they are defeated,” Tian Chua told The Malaysian Insider.
“We are not interested in such people,” he said adding however that “those wanting to cross over must genuinely believe in and defend Pakatan policies.”
Subramaniam’s supporters are urging him to take over one of the newly registered Indian political parties.
They say the new party would be an overnight success because nearly 300,000 of his supporters are expected to leave the MIC if he quits.
