‘RM30mil to back BN’: Ganabatirao sees red

The MI-Voice leader denies an allegation that he has agreed to help BN win Indian votes for a sum of RM30 million.

PETALING JAYA: V Ganabatirao, the co-founder of Malaysian Indian-Voice (MI-Voice), denied speculations that his NGO will help Barisan Nasional to win Indian votes in the next general election.

It was alleged that MI-Voice would be aiding BN to rake in Indian votes in return for RM30 million.
However, Ganabatirao hit the roof when asked about this.

“The allegation is absolutely ridiculous and nonsensical,” thundered the DAP member.
On the contrary, he added that such allegations proved that BN feared him and his influence.

According to a highly-placed source, MI-Voice had agreed to work for BN following negotiations with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s special officer, P Ravin.

The negotiation allegedly took place in Putrajaya in June beetween the special officer and Ganabatirao’s brother, Raidu.

The source claimed that Raidu had proposed starting up something similar to the Cabinet Indian task force and threfore the RM30 million was needed.

“I want to sue those who made the claim,” said Ganabatirao, who was among the five Hindraf leaders jailed under the Internal Security Act following a mammoth street protest in 2007.

He claimed that those spreading these rumours were attempting to kill his political career.
However, he admitted to bumping into Ravin once but that was about eight months ago when he was at the Registrar of Societies (ROS) office in Putrajaya.

“I have kept away from BN and MIC even though they have been attempting to lure me into MIC.
“Just because I met (former MIC president S) Samy Vellu accidentally during lunch several months ago doesn’t mean that I am joining MIC. But there were rumours,” he said.

He also claimed that DAP was offering him a state seat in Selangor and therefore this rendered the allegation baseless.

Ganabatirao, a lawyer by profession, is also a director of the Selangor-state owned mining company, Kumpulan Semesta.

Following their release from ISA detention in 2009, Ganabatirao had a fallout with Hindraf’s P Uthayakumar, leading the former to venture on his own.