COMMENT G Palanivel, the former MIC president and environment minister, was removed from the cabinet with three others by Najib Abdul Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia recently. The three others including Muhyiddin Yassin, the former deputy prime minister, were removed because of their of their unsavoury remarks against those involved in the 1MDB financial scandal. But why was Palanivel removed?

Although Palanivel never touched on the 1MDB issue, he was quite critical of the way the Najib administration dealt  with the issues in the MIC, especially after he took over the helm of the party. When the Registrar of Societies (ROS) ordered a re-election in the MIC, Palanivel became upset. He realised that ROS was allegedly used by some forces within the MIC and outside to unseat from him from  power.

This is the reason why he lashed out at Muhyiddin Yassin, the former deputy prime minister and Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor ( photo ), the Federal Territories Minister, and the ROS for allegedly interfering in the affairs of the party.

This was the first time in the history of the MIC that a president had told Umno leaders to back off. Even S Samy Vellu, the former president of MIC, lacked the guts to challenge Umno leaders. While he bullied and intimidated ordinary Indians, he was allegedly a ‘slave’ to Umno.

Apparently, ROS called a re-election in the MIC following complaints of fraud and manipulation. Those forces aligned with Dr S Subramaniam, the current acting president of the MIC and Health Minister, apparently lodged the complaints with the office of the ROS.

Thus, when ROS ordered re-elections to the central executive committee of the MIC and other positions (as the 2013 MIC elections were not acceptable), Palanivel and his supporters rejected the directive and sought a court order. Although the High Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled in favour of ROS, Palanivel and his group have appealed to the Federal Court, the last avenue for judicial pronouncement.

On the ground, reliable sources indicate that even though Palanivel has been removed from the cabinet, he still has considerable support among the rank and file in the MIC. Apparently, a majority of the MIC branches have thrown their support behind him. Given his clean track record, many think that he would an edge over Subramaniam, the supposed proxy of Samy Vellu.

Palanivel’s bold challenge of the ROS decision and his warning to Umno leaders not to interfere in the affairs of the MIC were not well received. His confrontation with Najib had already begun. It was this challenge that was seized on by his enemies in the MIC to plot his downfall. Even before his removal, he saw the writing on the wall.

The loss of one ministerial post has not gone well with Indians in the country. Tamil newspapers have gone to town with Najib’s unpopular decision. New reports and commentaries have taken to task those who plotted the downfall of Palanivel, particularly those who aligned with Subramaniam and Samy Vellu. In fact, some commentaries have  gone to the extent of labelling Subramaniam and his group as ‘traitors’ of the Indian community.

MIC ministers’ presence quite symbolic

Although Indians in general are quite fed-up with MIC politics, they however are not in favour of reduction of Indian ministers in the cabinet. Even if the MIC ministers cannot do much to uplift the Indian community, their presence remains quite symbolic to Indians, one of the most marginalised communities  in the country.

It would not too wrong to say that removal of Palanivel smacks of some sort of collusion between the anti-Palanivel forces in the MIC and those in Umno. Many believe that Samy Vellu ( photo ) and Subramaniam organised a systematic campaign to bring about the downfall of Palanivel. Moreover, their close rapport with Umno leaders riding roughshod over the larger interest of the Indian community laid the grounds of the Palanivel’s removal from the cabinet.

The removal of Palanivel in the cabinet reveals, among other things, that Umno does not tolerate dissidents within the ranks of the BN. As far as Umno leaders are concerned, they expect BN component party leaders to be merely ‘yes’ men. Any signs of dissent from BN leaders will not be tolerated and they will be severely punished. Yes, Palanivel was punished for not toeing Umno’s line.

Anway, Palanivel might be removed from the cabinet and his post taken away. But he is still the former MIC president with considerable support. In fact, unlike other slavish MIC leaders, Palanivel has gained much support from the rank and file MIC members for standing up against the bullying tactics of Umno leaders. Apparently, once or twice, he told Najib to keep his hands off the MIC. In this, he has even put to shame Samy Vellu.

Removing Palanivel as the MIC president might be a task a lot more difficult than removing him from the cabinet. Of late, he has been going around the country mobilising support for his cause. Both the feuding factions are going to conduct their elections soon. Soon, MIC might have two presidents and two central executive committees.

Palanivel is carefully weighing the many options that are available to him.  For sure, he is not going to abandon the MIC without giving a good fight. Right now, the struggle has reached unprecedented levels. With Umno in  shambles, things might just work to his benefit.

However, whether Palanivel makes a comeback to the MIC or not, one thing is sure - Indians are going to abandon the ‘mother’ party.

P RAMASAMY is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang and the state assemblyperson for Perai.