BN mulls young MIC leaders as Hulu Selangor candidate

By G. Manimaran - The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — The MIC will contest the Hulu Selangor by-election but the choice of a possible Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate has now widened to include two young leaders apart from sole party pick Datuk G. Palanivel.
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had only offered his deputy but BN is now said to be considering both party information chief P. Kamalanathan and MIC Youth deputy leader V. Mugilan, who is also Hulu Selangor MIC Youth chief.
Both their names came up when Samy Vellu met BN chairman and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last Tuesday to recommend the 61-year-old Palanivel to contest the seat.
Palanivel lost in Election 2008 by 198 votes although BN had swept all three states seats within the constituency. He had held the seat for four terms since 1990.

Samy Vellu (centre) with those selected to join his team, including Kamalanathan (right) and Palanivel (left) at last year's MIC AGM

Both Kamalanathan and Mugilan refused to comment on the speculation that they are being considered to represent BN in the seat that Selangor BN deputy chief Datuk Seri Noh Omar said is crucial to the coalition’s plans to recapture the state in the next general elections. Kamalanathan, 44, is the coordinator for the Putera MIC wing and is active in the Selayang MIC where he is a branch leader. The Selayang parliamentary constituency lies adjacent to Hulu Selangor.
He was appointed information chief after the last MIC general assembly in September as part of Samy Vellu’s moves to strengthen the party. The mass communications graduate is also a public relations manager for a government-linked-company.
Samy Vellu had said the party was targetting the young voters to support it in the April 25 by-election, leading party insiders to name Mugilan as an alternative to Palanivel as he is young at 35 and leads the Hulu Selangor MIC Youth wing.
Mugilan has denied he is interested in the seat once held by his mentor Palanivel but The Malaysian Insider understands the businesman was already seen as a potential candidate when incumbent PKR MP Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad fell ill last year.
Zainal Abidin, a former Selangor deputy mentri besar, died last month to trigger the by-election.
Mugilan refused to comment on the speculation when contacted by The Malaysian Insider last night, saying he was busy supervising the party machinery for the by-election.
“I have heard such rumours ... but I don’t want to comment on it,” said the MIC Youth deputy leader, who won the post last year.
Samy Vellu has refused to say whether he has submitted more names to the prime minister  but his family-owned newspaper Tamil Nesan has been campaigning for Palanivel and has accused party rebels of undermining the MIC No 2.
Speaking at a press conference after the end of the Selangor BN Convention yesterday, Najib said apart from national issues, candidate selection is an important issue in any by-election.
“Although in the by-election there are other national issues, but the candidate factor is one issue that we have to address,” he said.
However he refused to say when asked whether he has more than one name to be considered.
“We will announce when the time comes,” he replied, adding that Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin will announce the name on April 15.
“The president of the component party can send their preference but the final decision will be made by the BN chairman,” Najib said when asked about the candidate selection.
He also said that the outcome of the Hulu Selangor by-election will determine the future of BN in the state.
Nomination day for the by-election in the parliamentary constituency the size of Malacca is April 17.
There are 64,500 voters in Hulu Selangor, with the Malays making up 52.7 per cent of the total with 34,020 voters while the Chinese constitute 26.3 per cent (16,964) , Indians 19.3 per cent (12,453) and other races at 1.7 per cent.