By B Nantha Kumar - Free Malaysia TodayKUALA LUMPUR: The Hulu Selangor Umno division is apparently adamant that Barisan Nasional does not field MIC deputy president G Palanivel for the upcoming by-election.
According to an MIC source, attempts by several MIC leaders to coax the Umno division have not been successful.
“They refuse to listen. Now that (Prime Minister) Najib (Tun Razak) has announced that the Hulu Selangor seat is for MIC, they have backed down on their call to take the seat.
“But they will not compromise on Palanivel,” he said.
The source said the Umno division wants V Mugilan, the Hulu Selangor MIC Youth chief, to contest the seat come April 25.
Confirming this, an Umno division leader said Mugilan who was born in Ladang Kerling is well liked by the locals, including the Malays.
“He started from down the ranks. He is friendly and helpful to everyone at the grassroots level. He is very close to the Malay youths here as well,” he added.
'What has to happen will happen'
Contacted later, Mugilan refused to comment on the Hulu Selangor Umno division's proposal to field him.
As for the possibility of being nominated as the BN candidate, he said: “What has to happen will happen.”
“I am not asking to be nominated. It is not something I am focused on. No matter who the candidate is, BN must win. We in Hulu Selangor are ready to battle and win,” he said.
Mugilan also dismissed speculations that there is friction between Palanivel and him over the candidacy issue.
“Palanivel is my mentor and I will be very happy if he is nominated,” he added.
Samy thinks he'll be an Umno pawn
Meanwhile, the MIC source said party president S Samy Vellu is not keen on fielding Mugilan, fearing that he would be an Umno pawn.
The veteran politician is also livid that Umno is interfering in the choice of candidate for the by-election.
“He (Samy Vellu) refuses to consider Mugilan. He feels that since Umno likes him it would be easy for it to manipulate Mugilan,” the source said.
He added that Samy Vellu's second choice is MIC information chief P Kamalanathan, but the latter is not a local-born.
The Hulu Selangor seat fell vacant following the death of PKR MP Zainal Abidin Ahmad on March 25. In the 2008 general election, Zainal defeated Palanivel, a four-term Hulu Selangor MP, by a slim majority of 198 votes.
The Malay-majority seat also has a significant number of Chinese and Indian voters.
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