NST, April 06 2008
SUNGAI PETANI: Senator S. Samy Vellu? Definitely not.
He said this in response to a claim by former PPP vice-president Datuk V. Nadarajan that Samy Vellu would ask Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for a cabinet post in the event Datuk S. Ganesan won the seat.
Nadarajan announced yesterday that he was bringing six divisions, 62 branches and 6,000 Kedah PPP members with him to Parti Keadilan Rakyat.
Samy Vellu, scoffing at reports that a mass PPP exodus to PKR had taken place, asked where the other 5,500 members were as he only noticed about 500 PPP members campaigning for Pakatan Rakyat.
"Where are they? I don't see them except for some 500 PPP members. We are not worried about them."
Samy Vellu said the MIC's chances of winning the seat, as of yesterday, were good.
He said the people were becoming less hostile towards the party, with more people talking to MIC leaders.
Party secretary-general Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said 60 per cent of Indian voters were in favour of Barisan Nasional, compared with 20 per cent earlier.
He said PKR Jerai division head B. Kalai Vanar's resignation from the party showed that things were not rosy in the party and that Indian issues were not being addressed by the PKR leadership.
"When we say this, people don't believe us but now we have people like Kalai Vanar, who were part of PKR, bringing it up."
Ganesan, when met on the campaign trail, said the police report lodged against him on Saturday was a false report and that he would file a counter report against those who did it.
"There is no truth in that. I did not cheat anyone. It's a false report," he said, adding that the report alleging that he had cheated some 50 people of their low-cost houses would not affect his chances of winning.
Former information minister Tan Sri Kadir Sheikh Fadzir, who was campaigning house to house with Ganesan, said Ganesan was a "first-class wakil rakyat" when he was the Lunas state assemblyman.
"He attended to the people's problems with sincerity. Not many wakil rakyat can claim to do that."
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2009/04/06
Too close to call, says Murugan the parakeet
NST
SUNGAI PETANI: Campaigning for the Bukit Selambau by-election ends and everyone is having difficulty calling its outcome.
"God willing, we will win the seat. God willing," he said.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is counting on voters' good sense by offering them "two for one" -- a good state assemblyman and a state executive councillor.
Analysts contacted by the NST are split.
The ultimate "analyst", Murugan the parakeet at the Sri Muneswara temple in Jalan Baru, took the middle road, picking cards that showed Barisan Nasional's Datuk S. Ganesan and Parti Keadilan Rakyat's S. Manikumar running neck and neck.
A reliable "pundit", Murugan predicted Samy Vellu's defeat in the March 8 polls last year.
Murugan, asked to look at Ganesan's fortune, hopped among the cards spread on a piece of red cloth and mulled a pick.
It drew a card with a picture of Goddess Kaanji Kamatchi.
"This means Ganesan is anticipating something and is awaiting results," said Murugan's 61-year-old owner, astrologer V.C. Kanthasamy.
Kanthasamy then asked the bird to pick a card for Manikumar and Murugan chose Madurai Meenatchi.
"He is also awaiting something. Both pictures show the two goddesses waiting for Lord Shiva and are anticipating his arrival."
He said based on the card readings, the time was not good for both.
"The readings for both them are about the same. Both of them will have difficulties as their time is not good," he said.
Interestingly, he said the outlook looked very good for both in two months.
He added that both were equal in power and strength.
Pressed further to pick a winner, Kanthasamy asked the bird to pick a card to show who was leading.
The parakeet picked a card with pictures of Lord Ganesha (also known as Lord Ganesan) and Goddess Laxmi (goddess of wealth).
"Ganesan's chances are better than Manikumar because he has better wealth and power," he explained.
However, the bird could not call this by-election.
Asked why only parakeets were used for predictions, Kanthasamy said thousands of years ago, a sage was meditating under a tree seeking enlightenment from Lord Shiva.
With his eyes closed, he began writing down men's destiny and kept writing without realising that his writings were flying all around.
The parakeets around him saw this and began to stack them up neatly and when the sage opened his eyes, he saw what they had done.
He then bestowed upon the birds the power to enlighten man on his destiny. -- By Suganthi Suparmaniam
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