The MIC elections on June 24 will decide as to who will become the party's deputy president, three vice-presidents and members of the central working committee.

In this elections, it is the contest for the number two post that has generated much heat and controversy. S Subramaniam the current deputy president and long-time rival of S Samy Vellu, the president of MIC, is being challenged by G Palanivel, one of the vice-presidents and a staunch ally of the president.

While it is more or less accepted that Palanivel might win the post as result of the backing from Samy Vellu, Subramaniam in a recent interview remarked that he still has a good chance. In the same interview, he urged delegates not be scared and exercise their democratic right to vote for him.

The long and intense rivalry between Subramaniam and Samy Vellu is well known in the Indian Malaysian circles.

Subramaniam once was a favourite of former MIC president V Manickavasgam but could not make it to the top. When Samy Vellu took over the post of president, Subramaniam was gradually sidelined. Although he was restored to the post of deputy president as a result of the intervention of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, he never was able gain the favour of Samy Vellu.

Samy Vellu merely waited for an opportunity to finish off Subramaniam politically as he did to K Pathmanaban, the politician who came into the MIC with the backing of the second prime minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdul Razak in the 1970s.

For more than three decades, the politics of MIC had more to do with infighting rather than championing the plight of the community. The process of infighting clearly favoured the politics of Samy Vellu in ridding the party of his opponents and reducing the role of Subramaniam.

Costly mistake

Subramaniam without the support from within and lacking the courage to openly confront Samy Vellu, decided to wait patiently to succeed the number one post. That opportunity probably never came, but provided the necessary grounds for Samy Vellu to stop him from holding government posts. After Mahathir, an opportunity was presented to Samy Vellu to remove Subramaniam once and for all from MIC. He decided that the post of the deputy president should be contested and backed Palanivel to take on Subramaniam in this Saturday's contest.

Although Subramaniam challenged Samy Vellu for the presidency once and lost, he never wanted to challenge the president even when circumstances favoured him later. Probably he was advised that his chances of succeeding Samy Vellu would be better if he waited patiently. If he thought along these lines, recent events have proved that he was terribly wrong. Now he is caught in a predicament, his chances of retaining the deputy president post is rather slim. He does not have the support of powerful Umno politicians to block the contest in MIC for the number two slot. Although Subramaniam approached some senior Umno leaders to intervene, there has been no response from them.

If Subramaniam losses the contest it would mean the end of his long political career. It would be doubtful whether Samy Vellu would want to retain him. Subramaniam has very little support in the party. Many of his supporters have joined political parties such as the Indian Progressive Front (IPF) and Peoples Progressive Party (PPP).

This would explain why Subramaniam has been quite desperate in trying to stop the contest and his appeals to the upper echelons in Umno. Lately, he has been mounting a serious campaign to get the backing of delegates from MIC, many of them supposedly loyal to Samy Vellu.

In a recent television interview, rather ironically, he urged delegates to be brave and vote for him. Yet in the same interview, he felt that there should not be any contest for the deputy's post since he had the served the MIC for many years.

A delegate remarked after the interview: "Subramaniam wants us to vote with our conscience, but yet he denies the opportunity for others to contest him".

Although there is some sympathy for Subramaniam within the MIC circles for being an underdog in the contest, many think that the time is over for him. While many understand that Samy Vellu has put him out of action, they are not sure whether he will make a good leader for the Indian community. Furthermore Subramaniam's style and mannerism, the company he keeps and his lack of rapport with ordinary Indians have not gone down well with the majority of Indians in the country.

Samy's clone?

Palanivel's close association with Samy Vellu has its advantages and disadvantages.

Samy Vellu's strong support for him would mean that he might win the contest for the deputy post without much difficulty. However, this association might also mean that the Indian community would not know the real character and style of his leadership.

Since it is very likely that Palanivel might succeed Samy Vellu in the foreseeable future, it would be important for the delegates to know about him, his strength of character and the kind of vision that he has for the advancement of the community.

In this regard, it is important for Palanivel to have the strength of character to move away from the shadow of Samy Vellu and project an image of his independence and strength of character.

It is understandable that he shared a close relationship with Samy Vellu for many years, but it is also important that he is not regarded as Samy Vellu's clone. Such an image might not be very endearing to the Indian community. There is a general feeling in the community that the party has not done anything meaningful for the Indians under the leadership of Samy Vellu.

How Palanivel will be able to balance his loyalty for Samy Vellu and at the same time take some independent actions for the benefit of the community will remain his main challenge.

This is precisely the reason, in the interest of the overall Indian community; both the candidates should provide their respective agendas for the improvement of the community in Malaysia. But unfortunately, to date, nothing serious and concrete have emanated from the contestants. Contests and campaigns in political parties must go beyond the immediate, they should embrace the kind of leadership that is necessary for the progress of their respective communities. In this respect, the on-going contests in the MIC have neglected to address the fundamental question of Indian underdevelopment and marginalisation and how the change in leadership will address these issues.

In the ultimate sense, it does not make much difference as to who will succeed Samy Vellu, but whether the successor has the integrity, moral strength and the courage to effectively represent the larger and more fundamental interests of the Indian community.

Succession or change of leadership in the MIC will make no sense if the community continues to be marginalised.

Professor P Ramasamy is presently editing a book on Rising India and Indians in East Asia and writing a book on Malaysian politics.