Subra: Dr M spoke his mind
Former MIC deputy president S Subramaniam has denied he is banking on external influence to canvass for votes in his bid to recapture the deputy presidency in the party elections tomorrow.
Former MIC deputy president S Subramaniam has denied he is banking on external influence to canvass for votes in his bid to recapture the deputy presidency in the party elections tomorrow.
He said it was beyond his control should any political party leader outside MIC make favourable statements about him.
"He (MIC president S Samy Vellu) gets upset whenever somebody praises me ... everyone has the right to speak," Subramaniam told reporters after attending a gathering with about 900 members and delegates of the Klang MIC Divison last night.
Yesterday, Tamil daily Makkal Osai - which is linked to Subramaniam - published a front page report quoting Mahathir as praising him and attacking Samy Vellu.
Samy Vellu later criticised Subramaniam for seeking outside help in an attempt to win the deputy presidential elections.
"Subramaniam is so desperate that he has to seek the mandate from Mahathir to win in the party elections. He has brought shame to the MIC members and the party," he said.
Subra: Dr M spoke his mind
However, Subramaniam said Mahathir spoke his mind without fear or favour and the paper just published what he had said.
"I had nothing to do with it. I am grateful to him (Mahathir) because he had said something nice about me," he said.
Subramaniam is challenging incumbent deputy president G Palanivel for the post of deputy president. Another candidate for the post is vice-president S Sothinathan.
A political analyst from Universiti Sains Malaysia, Dr Sivamurugan Pandian, told Bernama that the chances were there for Subramaniam to get sympathy votes in the party elections following the decision of the MIC Central Working Committee (CWC) to refer Subramaniam to the disciplinary committee.
Samy Vellu had said the disciplinary action against Subramaniam and legal action against former vice-president V Govindaraj were for making a media statement that he (Samy Vellu) defeated Subramaniam in the election for the MIC deputy presidency in 1977 by using dirty tactics - Bernama
