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(THE STRAITS TIMES) - THERE were cakes, a massive pull-out in the local Tamil daily and garlands waiting to celebrate Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) president S. Samy Vellu's 72nd birthday on Saturday and his expected win in Sungai Siput, Perak.
But the man who has been the country's No. 1 Indian leader for decades lost the parliamentary seat after being a Member of Parliament for 34 years. With his party's top leaders also defeated at the polls, the power equation of the MIC has been thrown into disarray. At the heart of the dilemma is who will lead the party. Though Datuk Seri Samy Vellu has indicated that he will not step down, it is unlikely he can continue as party president in the face of such a poor performance. Deputy president G. Palanivel and the three vice-presidents, Datuk S. Sothinathan, Datuk S. Veerasingam and Tan Sri Dr S. Nijhar, had all lost the parliamen- tary seats they contested. Only three MIC candidates won parliamentary seats - one of whom is the former party No.2, Datuk S. Subramaniam. His rise would be another slap in the face for Datuk Seri Samy Vellu as the two have a history of bad blood. After he was ousted as the MIC deputy president three years ago by the Datuk Seri Samy Vellu-endorsed Datuk G. Palanivel, Datuk Subramaniam launched stinging criticisms at the party leadership. Bridges were burnt and will need to be mended quickly if the party leadership is to maintain any credibility. Political observers said MIC's dismal performance at the polls was to be expected as the tell-tale signs were there. Indeed, except for in his home constituency of Sungai Siput, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu had been receiving hostile receptions around the country for weeks. Jeering crowds would hurl abuse at him and block his car from leaving functions. But he always maintained that those attacks were the work of a few 'emotional' people who were misled by the Hindu Rights Action Force. He stressed it would have no impact on the polls. The results clearly showed otherwise. Sungai Siput, which had become synonymous with Datuk Seri Samy Vellu since he was picked to contest in the ward in 1974, was his stronghold. It was believed he could never be defeated there. But the impossible did happen when Dr Michael Jeyakumar, who contested under the PKR ticket, unseated him. Speaking to reporters the day after the polls, Datuk Seri Samy Vellu said: 'We accept the people's verdict because they are the ones who matter. I am not feeling unhappy. In any case, I will restructure and rebuild the MIC to continue serving the people.'
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Let UMNO be the only race based party since their dream is to rule this country without the Chinese and Indians.