Former MIC president S Samy Vellu is to help campaign for the BN in the by-election in the Tenang state constituency in Johor.

mic agm 110710 s samy vellu 3 He would go there as a speaker and would focus on the estimated 1,700 Indian voters, Bernama reported him as saying after opening a new four-storey building of SRJK (T) Alor Gajah built at a cost of RM3.3 million.

The Tenang seat fell vacant following the death of assemblyperson Sulaiman Taha on Friday.

The Election Commission is to meet on Friday and announce the dates for nomination and polling in the by-election.

Sulaiman retained the Tenang seat in the general election in 2008, beating PAS candidate Mohd Saim Siran with the majority of 2,492 votes.

At the opening of the school building, Samy Vellu said that since 2008, the federal government had allocated RM200 million for new buildings and renovation of existing buildings of 258 Tamil schools in the country. He said 200 of these schools has been renovated so far.

NONE Meanwhile, Johor MIC chairperson KS Balakrishnan has been appointed to head the party's campaign in the Tenang state seat by-election, MIC president G Palanivel announced today.

In a statement, Palanivel ( right ) said there were 1,785 Indian voters in the Tenang constituency, making up 12 per cent of the electorate there.

"All MIC branches in the Labis division will fully commit themselves to delivering the votes. Divisional chiefs from all over Johor will also be fully involved in the campaign."

Palanivel said Indians formed a critical electorate and the MIC would  involve itself fully to engage and deliver the Indian votes.

He said he would be visiting Tenang regularly to ensure smooth coordination of the campaign.