PETALING JAYA: MIC president S Samy Vellu is the major reason that the Indian community had voted against Barisan Nasional in the 2008 general election, said sacked MIC Youth deputy chief V Mugilan today.
Responding to a question on whether Samy Vellu was the sole reason BN lost Indian votes or if it was also due to Umno's “discriminatory policies” as claimed by the president's son Vell Paari, Mugilan said Samy Vellu was the root of the problem.
"Samy Vellu is the major and main reason and other things were the smaller reasons. If we had tackled the main reason then there would not be all these smaller reasons," he told a press conference here.
Elaborating, he said:"Samy Vellu had made the Indian community look stupid for failing to fight for their rights."
Sacked Central Working Committee (CWC) member KP Samy agreed, saying that Samy Vellu must take 50% of the blame while Umno takes 30%, and the remaining 20% is due to the candidates themselves.
"We can't blame one without the other. But I must say that Samy Vellu alone has caused alot of Indian voters to turn away from MIC," he said.
'How will a mother know, if the baby does not cry'
Current CWC member P Palaniappan said Samy Vellu never allowed his party leaders to bring up issues concerning Umno's policies during his 30-year reign.
"The problem was that the grievances of the Indian community was never really heard when Samy Vellu was president. Whenever someone voiced it, he would ask him to shut up.
"In essense, he is saying that the Umno-led government is to be blamed, but why is he only saying this now?" asked Palaniappan.
"How does a mother know a baby is hungry if it does not cry? It's a chicken and egg situation," he said.
Palaniappan said Samy Vellu never told the prime ministers he served under that the Indian community was unhappy, and Umno only realised the situation after the Nov 25, 2007 Hindraf protest.
Sacked CWC member Kumar Amman pinned the blame squarely on Samy Vellu's shoulders.
"The only cause for the loss of Indian votes is Samy Vellu and Samy Vellu only. Samy Vellu has never thought about the Indian community.
“He always had his own agenda to build his own empire with his cronies. Umno, on the other hand, is an excellent party that is very well structured," he said.
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