Sparks fly as Saravanan, Puad lock horns over MIC threat to quit BN

Umno supreme council member Puad Zarkashi and M Saravanan locked horns on Facebook today over the MIC deputy president’s threat to pull out from BN.

This happened when Puad mocked the Tapah MP over his recent comments to Utusan Malaysia, where Saravanan claimed MIC had been deceived into agreeing to support a coalition government under Anwar Ibrahim’s leadership.

According to the former human resources minister, MIC was told by BN chairperson Ahmad Zahid Hamidi that they would get a seat in Anwar’s cabinet if the Indian party supported the PKR president.

“If you knew that you had been deceived, why didn’t you leave then? Why did you stay? This shows that Saravanan is only making a threat.

“It may look brave when he is not. Why? Because MIC only has one parliamentary seat. Which means they do not have the strength to pull out their support.

“He is scared that (MIC) might lose what they already have while trying to pursue something more,” Puad said in a Facebook post.

‘Stay in BN’

The Umno leader told Saravanan that it would be better for MIC to stay in BN.

“Making such a threat when you have low bargaining power would not work. MIC does not have enough strength just with the Tapah seat,” he added.

About an hour later, Saravanan replied to Puad in his comment box, slamming the Johor state assembly speaker for being late to the party.

He said Puad “had just woken up” four days after the interview was published and when Zahid himself had responded to the issue.

“You think anyone cares about your comments? Only your cyber troopers are supporting you.

“Don’t you realise that your party has also been rejected by the Malays? Perikatan Nasional won in all the Malay constituencies,” Saravanan said.

He also warned Puad of the possible consequences to Umno should MIC and MCA leave BN, despite them having a low number of seats.

“Let’s see how many seats your party can win from the 26 you have now.”

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