Sauteed prawns, roast chickens, steamed sea bass, juicy broccoli and tender slices of tofu and mushroom washed down with upscale Chinese tea kept some 500 diners focused on the food and away from politics.

I t was a Thursday night to remember at the posh Pan Pacific Hotel ballroom, where MIC president S Samy Vellu threw a dinner for some 500 delegates and others from MIC Selangor.

Old Tamil love songs filled the air in the cavernous hall that was crowded with tables overlaid with food. Seated around were delegates from every corner of the state.

The Selangor delegates form the biggest and most powerful contingent in the party and their block voting often makes or breaks a candidate. Combined with 200 votes from Perak, the next biggest state, victory is in hand, if the candidate can command the support.

This equation was on everyone's lips as plates laden with food made the rounds in the hall.

The Selangor gathering is the last in a road show Samy Vellu started after returning from a week-long official trip to India accompanying Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

With the heated campaign winding up and polling just a day away, many delegates had come expecting fireworks from the president.

Engine analogy

They were disappointed because there were none. Samy Vellu did not even once mention his archenemy deputy president S Subramaniam by name except to say the party was like a big engine and old and overused parts had to be discarded and new ones fitted in.

It was a clear reference to Subramaniam and the fact that he had been deputy for some 25 years; years that challenger G Palanivel says was wasted in infighting and attempting to weaken Samy Vellu.

"We need new parts to keep the engine going," Samy Vellu said. "You all know what I mean and you all know what to do come Saturday (polling day)."

"Our engine is almost 30 years old and needs a new major part. If we don't change, the engine would stall and we will end up in a mess," he said to lusty claps.

Clearly the majority of the floor is with Samy Vellu but around some tables there was a noticeable silence.

Here some delegates signaled their derision by screwing up their eyes and curling their lips in contempt. A few took out newspapers to read while others looked at the ceiling.

One Subramaniam supporter at my table whispered, "What about him, (Samy). Isn t he old and overused and due for replacement?"

Another delegate quickly leaned over and whispered, "Shut up and don t get us all into trouble."

But after the brief engine analogy, Samy Vellu moved on and had everyone in stitches cracking jokes, singing songs and showing off his knowledge of history reaching into the Tamil people's past for stories, anecdotes and yarns to make it a memorable night minus politics for the delegates.

"I don t even want to mention his name," Samy Vellu told supporters who gathered around him after the dinner.

New strategy

That little statement tells a lot. Sstrategy has noticeably changed in the president's camp.

They no longer hit at Subramaniam as a 'do-nothing' leader waiting for the durian to fall, as a backstabber or as just a pretty face along the MIC corridors.

Samy Vellu's performance at the Pan Pacific is a reverse of the fiery 'Subramaniam is waiting for me to die' rhetoric that made the headlines immediately after nomination on June 4.

Samy Vellu continued to lash out at Subramaniam before leaving to India. He came back a week later and was immediately met by top aides.

"Datuk Seri please, you must not hit him. He is gaining sympathy support each time you hit him, the aides told Samy Vellu. They argued for over an hour at the VIP lounge of the KLIA. "And it is making negative headlines in all the media."

Samy Vellu huffed and puffed but listened and in the end agreed. "OK let s do it your way," a senior aide said recalling that strategy meeting that changed the campaign strategy of the 'official' team.

Immediately after that Samy Vellu went on his road show across the country and kept to the bargain. He did not once slam Subramaniam except through analogy and allusion.

The strategy threw Subramanian's team into confusion, a veteran MIC insider said. "They were suddenly caught off guard. Here was the demon they had expected to spew fire and brimstone and win votes but instead was purring its way across the country," he added.

In the past week, two Tamil dailies Malaysian Nanban and Makkal Osai published numerous articles alleging corruption, money politics and accused Samy Vellu of turning the MIC into a family property.

The point man making most of the accusations was V Govindaraj, Samy Vellu's pal from the 1950s who backed the president in 1989 when Subramaniam challenged him but is now against his old friend.

Both go a long way - from the time in the late 1950s when they rode a Honda Cub together and tackled girls in Sentul to the time he suddenly re-appeared in 1989, pledging support for Samy Vellu.

'Just do it!'

But despite the provocations, Samy Vellu did not explode.

He is keeping to his main message to delegates: 'We need change, the engine needs a new and major change of parts and Palanivel is the new part we have to fit'.

"You delegates know what to do, just don't hesitate. Just do it," he said before breaking into a song here or an anecdote there at the dinner.

To enhance the chances of his official line-up for the vice-president posts, Samy Vellu had run down the challengers with one liners.

He says business tycoon and Federal Territory MIC chief VKK Teagarajan has been senator for two terms but does not say, 'What more does he want?'

That thought however is hanging in the air and will work against the candidate.

Samy Vellu accused another challenger M Muthupalaniappan of taking from the poor in Negeri Sembilan, the state where Muthupalaniappan held sway as MIC chief for over 15 years. It was just one sentence, a passing remark, but the allegation exploded like a bomb.

If anybody, these two had a chance but Samy Vellu dampened it with a few deft moves before almost 400 voters. He also did not see it fit to mention the names of two more independent challengers E Yohevel and Klang businessman K Teagarajan.

Change needed

While Samy Vellu entertains, Palanivel travels the country meeting delegates.

His message remains unchanged. "We need change, we need a new deputy president and Samy Vellu has chosen me as that candidate," he says.

"It is your duty to make the change. Don't fear, don't hesitate, and don't sympathise. This is not the time to sympathise, do what you must even if it is painful," he says.

Palanivel has added a new theme. This battle is an honour battle, a battle for Samy Vellu's honour.

"Electing me by a small majority is not good enough. We must have a big, big majority so that Samy Vellu can walk tall. The majority must send a big message to everyone," he says.

Outside of these exhortations, contestants are not raising other more serious issues that afflict the community like poverty and lack of resources.

Subramaniam on his part continues to slough through the country knocking on doors of delegates. Some delegates flee him like a plague afraid someone will notice and inform the party boss. Others open their doors, welcoming the deputy president and offer tea but not the vote.

"I was in the school teaching when he arrived at my home. I told my wife to invite him and his aides in and give them tea. That s the right thing to do," said a teacher from Perak.

"Whatever the politics, we must not forget our culture," he added.

Final battle

Subramanian's team is also posting numerous pamphlets to delegates. One pamphlet argues if Palanivel is defeated he can always be appointed party secretary-general. If Subramaniam is defeated, that's the end of his career.

'You don't want that to happen, do you?' reads the pamphlet.

Subramaniam, who is probably fighting the final battle of his 40-year career in MIC, said that, though his rivals are eager to end his political life, he is bent on defending his position at all costs.

"There have been unkind remarks, uncultured campaigns; they are trying to dig my political grave. They (rivals) want to unseat me and kill me off from the political arena," he told Bernama on Tuesday.

"It has been harsh; I have been bruised, attacked and humiliated. But I have not asked for any help. I have done it on my own and never cried for sympathy," he added.

As polling nears and the heated campaign winds down, contestants are turning to last minute campaign tactics like SMS messages to reach and convince voters.

From today, the 1,441 delegates will begin streaming in from around the country and checking into hotels around the PWTC area.

For the contestants, it is an ideal opportunity to meet voters in the hotels. They will stomp the corridors, ring the room bells and inevitably engage in horse trading behind doors.

BARADAN KUPPUSAMY is a veteran Malaysian journalist. This is the seventh of a special series of articles leading up to tomorrow's MIC elections.