The youth leader, who came at odds with his party when he was accused of attempting steal the candidacy from Datuk G. Palanivel, said that the offer was made yesterday, shortly after Barisan Nasional revealed the name of its candidate, MIC’s information chief P. Kamalanathan.
He told The Malaysian Insider later that the offer amounted to a whopping cash reward of RM2 million and land to the size of 20ha.
“I received a phone call from a politician, a person who holds a post, who told me that if I am interested, I could meet with him on the same night,” claimed Mugilan but declined to reveal the name of the caller.
He said that he had not lodged a police report on the incident as he did not see the need to do so.
“Why should I? I did not take up the offer. I have no plans to do so,” he said.
He pointed out that he was a party man and did not place much emphasis on his rift with his top party leadership over the candidacy for the by-election.
MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had announced recently that the party would investigate Mugilan for allegedly lobbying to be a candidate and even said he could face a possible sacking.
Mugilan’s name had emerged as a possible candidate after the Umno grassroots rallied behind him as a substitute to MIC deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel.
Mugilan however continued to insist that he had done nothing wrong and said that he had no intention to leave MIC.
“How could I have stolen the candidacy? You think the PM or the DPM have no brains?
“And why should I leave the party, this party is not a ‘sendirian berhad’ — its a party for the people,” he said.
Mugilan also said that he had never once lobbied to be a candidate for the by-election and challenged his accusers to prove him wrong.
He also claimed that he was merely being used as “propaganda material” by certain quarters for the by-election.
“I never lobbied to be a candidate. I never did. Ask anyone, ask the Prime Minister, ask the Deputy Prime Minister.
“I never said that I was interested in contesting,” he said.
He pointed out that Palanivel had been his mentor for years and that the former MP for Hulu Selangor was the one who had introduced him into politics.
“I have been Hulu Selangor MIC Youth chief for over ten years now and have been here, campaigning for him since the 1999 elections,” he pointed out.
Mugilan added that he was not aware of who or why his name had suddenly been mentioned as a possible candidate but boasted that it was probably due to his large pool of supporters in the constituency, which amounts to the thousands.“It is just like in sports in school. If you are good, you are chosen to represent your school, then your district or your state.
“That is why I was chosen, I think,” he said.
He went further to claim that he had even received a personal call from deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at 2pm yesterday, two hours before the latter announced Kamalanathan’s candidacy.
“He (Muhyiddin) told me, he said ‘Mugilan, we need you, you are an aggressive leader, the PM needs you. We hope you help us and we will not forget you’.
“It is unprecedented for such a thing to happen,” he said.
Mugilan however said the Muhyiddin had not offered him any reward but merely persuaded him to help the BN’s campaign in Hulu Selangor.
“He told me to come to the stage on nomination day,” he said.
Mugilan continued to say that the reason why Palanivel had lost in his bid to contest the by-election was because his name had been revealed too early in the game.
“Not even 24 hours passed after PKR MP Datuk Zainal Abidin Ahmad passed away when his name was offered up already.
“In any by-election, it is bad strategy to reveal the name of your candidate so early. You will subject him to attacks from the opposition,” said Mugilan.
He pointed out that his name was also shelved as it had been mentioned after Palanivel’s.
“Why or who did this actually, I do not know,” he said.
He said however that he had utmost respect for the BN leadership and would respect its choice.
“I have no issues with Kamalanathan,” he said, pointing out that he, like Palanivel, had no qualms in helping the former in his campaign.
Mugilan also said that he was confident of BN’s chances and pledged his thousands of supporters to vote the BN candidate come polling day.
“Furthermore, I am a local here, bred here all my life so my friends amount to the thousands.
“It is untrue what the rumours say that I am not local just because I was born in Perak.
“My mother merely gave birth to me there because by Indian customs, a pregnant woman would go to her mother’s house to deliver,” he said, adding that his family had stayed in Hulu Selangor for over 50 years now.
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