Bagan Pinang victory 'perfect tonic' for MIC - Malaysiakini

Penang MIC Youth's reading of Barisan Nasional's Bagan Pinang victory is that the Indian voters have realised that Pakatan Rakyat is only interested in politicking and political dramas.

The movement's chief J Dhinagaran said last Sunday's by-election result indicated that Indians were flocking back to the party and BN.

He cited the Penang DAP government's 'broken promise' to save the Indian heritage village of Kampung Buah Pala as an influential factor in turning the tide.

"Bagan Pinang could be the prefect tonic for MIC to be used as a launching pad for the party's revival," he told Malaysiakini today.

He said Pakatan's failure to promote and develop Tamil schools and protect Hindu temples in its states were also among the reasons that could have prompted Indian voters turning their backs on the opposition coalition.

However, Penang Deputy Chief Minister (II) P Ramasamy had since discounted the possibility that the Kampung Buah Pala fiasco could have swung Indian votes in favour of BN.

'Only MIC and BN can deliver'

Pakatan, Dhinagaran said, rode on the 'Makkal Sakti' mantra (people's power) in the last general election to rob BN of its traditional Indian voter bank across the country.

"However, today Indians have realised that Pakatan state governments have failed to address their grouses effectively despite being in power for the past 18 months.

"Indians realise that only MIC and BN could help and deliver, not Pakatan," he said.

Dhinagaran said MIC's own campaign strategy by organising various grassroots programmes to reach out to the voters had also effectively and decisively swayed the Indians back to BN.

He claimed that 80 percent of Indians, who cast their ballots in the by-election, backed BN and the MIC.

He suggested that the remaining 20 percent, who backed PAS candidate Zulkefly Mohd Omar, could be family members of hardcore Pakatan supporters.

He also said at least 600 Indian voters abstained from voting "to teach both BN and Pakatan a lesson."

"Many Indians told me personally that they don't trust both political blocs," he added.

In the Bagan Pinang poll, BN's Isa Samad bagged 8,013 votes while Zulkefly polled 2,578 votes.

Analysts said more than 60 percent of the Malay voters had backed Isa, a popular local political icon, with non-Malay support rising to almost 70 percent.