Mic Hopes To Recapture Former Stronghold Sungai Siput

---

 


MIC president SA Vigneswaran is planning to contest in the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, a former MIC fortress, in the 15th general election (GE15).
“I hope I will be contesting in Sungai Siput.
“That’s what I’m thinking of. I cannot go to a new place. There’s not enough time,” The Star quoted Vigneswaran telling reporters on the sidelines of the MIC annual general meeting yesterday.
For the record, former MIC president S Samy Vellu served as Sungai Siput MP for eight terms from September 1974, until he lost to PSM’s Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj in March 2008.
The current Sungai Siput MP is PKR’s Kesavan Subramaniam, who beat MIC’s SK Devamany for the seat in the 2018 general election.
According to Vigneswaran (above), MIC is gunning to contest for nine parliamentary seats, or possibly more, and 18 state seats in GE15.
The party currently only has one parliamentary seat - Tapah, which is held by MIC deputy president M Saravanan.
Vigneswaran said the party had already appointed coordinators who are already working on the ground, meeting voters from all races, in places they are planning to contest in.
The MIC president further said the party is also looking to field 70 percent female candidates and fresh faces in the election.
On equal footing
Meanwhile, Saravanan told reporters that he is highly likely to defend his Tapah seat in GE15.
The human resources minister also said that MIC is now a “strategic partner” of Umno rather than a subordinate.
“Today, you can see the relationship between Umno and MIC. It is not a master-servant relationship. We are strategic partners.
“Maybe, once upon a time, it was a master-servant relationship. Not anymore,” he was quoted saying by the English daily.
MIC deputy president M SaravananSaravanan also slammed Pakatan Harapan for not solving Indian-related issues in states the coalition leads, such as Penang and Selangor, despite being in power for several terms, and holding federal power for 22 months.
“Have they solved all the land issues? Have they solved all the housing issues? Have they made all the Indians rich?
“The Indians in Penang and Selangor are still suffering. So don’t say ‘we only had 22 months and we need more time’,” he reportedly said. - Mkini

---