From day one Samy Vellu could not stand Hindraf. This is understandable. Samy Vellu claimed he championed the cause of the Indians. What marginalised he said, MIC would never allow that, he boasted in India that the Indians were better of than others or at par. He called Hindraf terrorist groups, and was with the government when the 5 were arrested under ISA. The corruption, the one man party, the dictatorial way the President ran the party, all these came out after the election lost and the fact that Hindraf opened the eyes of the Indians that they were being used as pawns for the betterment of Samy Vellu, his friends and cronies than the Indian masses. Today he comes in a wolf in sheep’s clothing to work with Hindraf. Imagine there is an upset and the MIC candidate wins, he will turn into a wolf once more.
SUNGAI PETANI, April 1 – Looking to capitalise on the uncertainty among Indian voters in Bukit Selambau, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu visited Hindraf coordinator R. S. Thanenthiran in hospital yesterday and claims that Hindraf will play ball with him.
While PKR has brushed aside talk of dissent among its Indian support after a few grassroots leaders in Kedah left the party, the move by Hindraf to boycott Bukit Selambau over the choice of candidate has given Barisan Nasional (BN) hope of picking up votes from Indians, who make up 30 per cent of the electorate here.
With Hindraf’s influence, so instrumental in delivering the Indian votes to Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the last general elections, acknowledged as the biggest factor in swaying the Indian votes, Samy’s move to visit Thanenthiran in Penang after the Hindraf leader was hospitalised due to heart complications appears to be a master stroke.
“He told me that after all that he has done for Anwar, nobody from PKR visited him. He said he would see me to discuss what are the problems and how we could work together to bring change to the Indian community,” Samy claimed, referring to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Noting that the release of its five Internal Security Act detainees is an issue close to the heart of Hindraf supporters, he added that he would continue to press for their release.
“I have seen Pak Lah many times and written three letters to him and he promised me he would look at it,” he said of outgoing Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi.
Samy said that he would also press Datuk Seri Najib Razak once he replaced Abdullah to release the five leaders as “there is no meaning in their detention and it does not help anyone.”
However, Hindraf events coordinator R. Kannan told The Malaysian Insider that the visit was merely on a personal basis and no political discussions were held.
“Samy offered his help on any Indian problems we are engaging but Thanenthiran told him that now was not the right time to talk about it,” he said.
Kannan added that the withdrawal from the triple header by-elections was limited only to Bukit Selambau but it was still backing PR in Bukit Gantang.
Samy has been campaigning vigorously in Bukit Selambau, starting his visits more than two weeks before Sunday’s nomination in what is seen as a referendum on his refusal to step down as MIC president despite the party being decimated at last year’s national polls.
He admitted today that Bukit Selambau is “the greatest test case” for him and his party, where he is spending all except a couple of days during the campaign period for the triple header April 7 by-elections.
“I like the challenge and I feel the response even in opposition areas has been good,” he said defiantly.
