The number of Indian voters in Kuala Terengganu may be small but MIC is not taking any chances as their votes may be crucial in deciding who will win should the by-election be a close fight, said party president S Samy Vellu.

samy vellu and mic 160408 "There are more than 500 Indian voters in Kuala Terengganu, and if we look at the results of the last general election, then every vote counts," he said.

Barisan Nasional's Razali Ismail won by a narrow majority of 628 votes in the March general elections. Razali defeated PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu and 89-year-old grandmother Maimun Yusuf.

The Kuala Terengganu constituency is 88.2 percent Malay, with nearly 11 percent Chinese. Indians form 0.6 percent of the electorate and other races such as the Orang Asli form the remaining 0.2 percent.

The by-election is being held following the death of Razali. Nominations has been fixed for Jan 6, and in the event of a contest, polls would be held on Jan 17.

Sothinathan to lead the charge

s sothinathan Samy Vellu said MIC vice-president S Sothinathan will be the party's director of operations for the by-election with Terengganu MIC state liaison chief R Suppiah as his deputy.

"I will also be campaigning along with other leaders of the party,” he said.

He said since the Indian voters formed a small group, the party would carry out a door-to-door campaign.

"We will meet every Indian voter," he said, adding that he was confident they would support the BN candidate.

Samy Vellu said the prevailing mood among Indian voters, including in Kuala Terengganu was in favour of BN.

"But, we are not going to rest on our laurels. We are going to convince and woo the Indian voters because they need to be assured and reassured on a lot of things," he added.