MIC has lost its youth wing leader after S.P. Punithan (main pic) resigned from the party with immediate effect today, just four days after Senator Datuk Sivaraj Chandran – the party’s only representative in Dewan Negara – walked out of the party today following discontentment over being perceived as a threat to the present leadership.
The former MIC Youth secretary is deemed to be a “close friend of Sivaraj” and the former head of the wing, a reliable party source told FocusM.
In a WhatApp message, Punithan who is the Selangor MIC Youth leader said he has tendered his resignation with immediate effect to MIC president Tan Sri S.A. Vigneswaran today.
“I would like to express my sincere thank you and gratitude from the bottom of my heart to all MIC leaders nationwide, especially to my MIC Youth comrades for all the support, commitment and cooperation rendered during my 15 years in MIC,” he shared.
Recall that on Tuesday (June 27), Sivaraj whose senatorship ironically was recommended by Barisan Nasional (BN) and Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi instead of MIC, left the party after claiming that he has “been blocked in many ways from devoting his services to the community and nation”.
The 47-year-old Sivaraj who was also the former MIC vice-president is and Taman Bukit Kuchai Baru branch head further expressed sadness that a few incidents that occurred during Vigneswaran’s leadership has prompted him to make the drastic decision.
In a tit-for-tat gesture, Sivaraj had agreed to heed Zahid’s call to stay out of the Padang Serai parliamentary election on Dec 7 last year so as to make way for Pakatan Harapan (PH) candidate Dr Mohamad Sofee Razak.
For the record, polling for the Padang Serai seat in conjunction with the 15th General Election (GE15) was postponed following the sudden death of its PH candidate M. Karupaiya in the run-up to the then Nov 19 polling date. Sivaraj was originally a BN candidate in what would be a six-corner fight.
With the latest exit occurring so close to the state polls slated for August, one wonders if both Sivaraj and Punithan would be able to rally their followers for a ‘cross-over” to PH component parties in the likes of PKR or DAP.
Recall that PH’s Sungai Buloh MP Ramanan Ramakrishnan – now PKR’s deputy information chief – was a former MIC treasurer who quit the party in 2014.
Even if the duo chooses to join PKR or DAP to extend their political career, it will be interesting to see what role they are expected to play in both PH component parties or how they can c0ntribute to the PH election machinery.
“MIC Youth is very weak and not influential … It was never a force within the Indian community,” commented a party source with regard to Punithan’s influence in the party.
“MIC Youth should be a sort of a pressure group and a service-oriented movement to keep the ‘mothership’ in line and be truthful to the party’s struggle. But most importantly, the Youth wing must not compromise on the party’s core struggle.” – June 30, 2023
Main pic credit: S.P. Punithan’s Instagram
