Ousted Mic Veep S Meet With Mipp Chief Set Tongues Wagging

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MIPP president P Punithan (left) embracing now-former MIC vice-president T Mohan at their meeting today. Also present was MIPP deputy president S Subramaniam. (P Punithan pic)PETALING JAYA: Ousted MIC vice-president T Mohan has set tongues wagging after meeting his former party colleague P Punithan, who is now president of the Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP).
The meeting with Punithan, whose party is a Perikatan Nasional component, comes a couple of days after Mohan lost the race for one of the three MIC vice-president’s posts.
However, Punithan sought to play down the meeting, telling FMT that they did not discuss the possibility of Mohan joining MIPP when they met today.
“We just had in-depth discussions on the political landscape and issues involving the Indian community. Mohan has done a lot for the community, so it is always good to exchange ideas with someone like him.
“He was my former MIC Youth leader and the person who brought me into mainstream politics during my younger days. Meeting him is not something out of the ordinary for me,” said Punithan, who was formerly the Selangor MIC Youth chief.
Mohan, who was elected MIC vice-president in 2021 with the most votes among the candidates, failed to defend his post in the party elections last weekend.
M Asojan and T Murugiah defended their vice-presidency, while R Nelson, a newcomer, pipped Mohan by 58 votes for the third post in the election for the 2024-2027 term.
Mohan had hit out at MIC president SA Vigneswaran for helping Nelson at the party elections, saying this was a conflict of interest since the party chief also headed the MIC election committee.
Vigneswaran had denied playing any part in Mohan’s loss in the party elections but admitted to lending some support to Nelson, whom he described as being “not in the same league” as Mohan, Asojan and Murugiah.
He nonetheless said he, too, was surprised by the outcome.
Quoting party insiders, FMT reported that Mohan’s unexpected loss in the party elections on Sunday was due to him not being in the president’s “official list” despite having strong grassroots support. - FMT

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