KUALA LUMPUR: Sacked MIC Youth deputy chief V Mugilan today announced the formation of the Gerakan Anti-Samy Vellu (GAS) campaign to topple the party president. Addressing a packed press conference at a restaurant in Petaling Jaya, Mugilan said he will be the coordinator of the campaign.
He will launch the campaign, known by its acronym as GAS, on May 30 in Kuala Lumpur with several MIC top guns.
Mugilan expects more than 7,000 people to participate on the first day of the campaign, which will subsequently be held nationwide.
“GAS will not only be for the Indians but also the Malays and Chinese,” he said.
Observers however were left dissapointed as expectations were high that Mugilan will be announcing something more “explosive” as reported by the media.
“This looks like a bombshell which failed to explode,” quipped one senior MIC leader.
In an immediate reaction, MIC Youth advisor and Samy Vellu's son Vell Paari termed GAS as nothing more than “hot gas” from Mugilan and those aligned to him.
He also accused former MIC deputy president S Subramaniam of being the force behind this campaign, saying that GAS should stand for “Group Aligned to Subramaniam” instead.
“This is nothing new. Subramaniam has been trying to do this for 30 years, and now and then he finds someone to do the work for him. Now, Mugilan is the new puppet,” he said.
“Let me make one thing clear, my father will vacate his post, and others will succeed him. But Subramaniam will never become president of MIC and he has to live with this fact,” he added.
Vell Paari also took a swipe at Mugilan, saying that it is in the latter's “genetic make up” to do such things.
“When he was in the Bell Club, he did the same to the president there, he then did the same to (MIC deputy president (G Palanivel) in Hulu Selangor and he was doing the same in MIC Youth by undermining the wing's chief T Mohan,” he said.
In a related development, Palanivel said the MIC president has set his retirment date and all quarters should work together to ensure a smooth transition.
“In the past, I have said that Samy Vellu has to be the one to decide when he wants to leave. Now that he has set the time, let us work together.
“As for me, I have said in the past that I am a leader in my own right and I would like to work with everyone,” he added.
On the question as to whether he is ready to take over the reins, the deputy president said: “The answer is simple. When the delegates voted for me in 2006 and 2009 as deputy president, I am sure they were voting for someone who is capable and experienced.”
He added that Samy Vellu has always said that he has the capability of taking over the party.
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