MIC has lost Senator Datuk Sivaraj Chandran – the party’s only representative in Dewan Negara – who walked out of his party today following discontentment over his role in the party and the perception of him being a threat to the present leadership.
In his resignation letter addressed to party president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran, the former MIC Youth chief claimed that he has “been blocked in many ways from devoting his services to the community and nation”.
Sivaraj, 47, further expressed sadness that a few incidents that occurred during Vigneswaran’s leadership has prompted him to make the drastic decision.
“If this continues, I dread that there will sooner lead to a break-up among party members. Sincerely speaking, I don’t wish to be a cause for the party to break up due to differences in views and approaches,” Sivaraj who is also the MIC Taman Bukit Kuchai Baru branch head penned in his letter.
“With a heavy heart, I reckon that it is better for me to leave MIC as this will enable me to focus on my assignment as a senator and leader of the Indian community without any obstacles or barriers from any quarters, especially, the (present) MIC leadership.”
Perhaps, Sivaraj’s disgruntlement can be understood for his senatorship (from March 20, 2023 to March 19, 2026) emanated from the recommendation of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi as a favour for staying out of the Padang Serai parliamentary election 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 to Dec 7 last year 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 Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate in what would be a six-corner fight.
Sivaraj had also contested and won the 2018 general election to become MP for the Cameron Highlands parliamentary seat but his victory was nullified by the Election Court as he was found guilty of bribing the Orang Asli voters.
Sivaraj who lost his vice presidency in the 2021 MIC election was later appointed by party president Vigneswaran to the party’s central working committee (CWC) but was dropped from the CWC about three weeks ago.
He later told the Free Malaysia Today news portal that he was not given any reason for the action against him by the party president.
“Yes, I was removed and I know it’s the prerogative of the party president. But I was not given any reason for the removal, which is the norm,” he pointed out, noting that he would not appeal as he did not know why the action was taken in the first place.
Sivaraj who was also appointed to be a steering committee member of the Malaysian Indian Transformation (MITRA) unit did not attend the Education Development Direction and the Future of the Indian Society Programme organised by MITRA which was launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim at the Shah Alam Convention Center (SACC) on June 10.
“There is now a strong possibility of Sivaraj joining a PH component party and who knows if he may also lobby for a deputy ministerial post,” a source hinted to FocusM. – June 27, 2023
Main pic credit: Bernama
