Samy Vellu, perhaps mindful of the upcoming by-elections, has started his campaign early. Unperturbed by calls from some Gerakan leader and Karpal Singh to retire, Samy launches his own attack on Pakatan Rakyat. He targets Dr Ramasamy, the deputy VM of Penang who had earlier urged the government not to allocate any funds via MIC :

It has almost been a year since Pakatan Rakyat seized control of Penang but MIC president S Samy Vellu said the Indian community there has not benefitted despite the appointment of Prof P Ramasamy as a deputy chief minister.

MCPX

He said although Pakatan Rakyat could take credit for appointing the first Indian Malaysian to a powerful post, MIC however felt that his appointment was “a sheer waste” based on his “zero performance” so far.

“Although he (Ramasamy) has publicly announced that he was not representing a particular community, the Indians had placed high hopes on him to bring changes,” he added.

A year ago, Samy Vellu said, many had hailed Ramasamy’s appointment with “a great sense of jubilation and pride with the Indian community thinking he is cut out for the job.”

“What good is it to have an Indian placed in a very powerful and influential post but yet he has not done anything for the Indian community, let alone for the other races,” he added.

Samy Vellu said Ramasamy had instead only questioned and challenged the economic and social transformation and benefits initiated by MIC for the Indians through the federal government.

He lambasted Ramasamy for taking a swipe at MIC for reportedly urging the federal government not to channel any allocations meant for the Indian community through MIC as the party would only mismanage it.

Samy Vellu was referring to the many “goodies” announced for the Indians, including a 7.4 percent quota in civil service and an RM50 million allocation for Tamil schools by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak last Monday after chairing the Cabinet Committee for Indian Affairs

“I am deeply shocked to see a man holding such a high position being unable to understand the simple theory of how the government machinery operates,” said the MIC president.

Samy Vellu also criticised the former university lecturer for “harping on trivial matters and being an armchair critic.”

“With his background as a university lecturer for 30 years, Ramasamy could have used his position and experience to bring development and initiate new plans for the Indians, not just in Penang but the whole country.

“Instead, he picks on what we (MIC) do and takes the credit by saying if not for Pakatan Rakyat, there would be no move on the part of the federal government to bring social development for the Indians,” he said.

He also chided Ramasamy for talking about the welfare of the Indians when he had publicly told them that he was not representing just one race.

In view of this, Samy Vellu challenged Ramasamy and other Indian elected representatives from Pakatan Rakyat to list out their contributions to the Indian community.

“Don’t just take credit for making noise over certain incidents but tell us what have you done economically and socially for the betterment of the Indians,” he said.

Samy Vellu said the Indian community had expected “major changes” when Pakatan Rakyat took over Penang “but it looks like all is lost now.”

Obviously, Dr Ramasamy could not resist replying to Samy Vellu. Going beyond just preparing a list, he challenges Samy to a debate!

After coming under a scathing attack from MIC president S Samy Vellu, Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof P Ramasamy immediately challenged the veteran politician to an open debate in Bukit Selambau during the upcoming by-election.

MCPX

The DAP leader said the debate should be held before the April 7 by-election in order to determine who has contributed more to the Indian Malaysian community.

… Dismissing the MIC president’s remarks as a “joke”, Ramasamy questioned whether Samy Vellu was still an effective representative of the community.

“Samy Vellu had lost his parliamentary seat in Sungai Siput in the general elections,” he told Malaysiakini.

Ramasamy also said a substantial number of Indians reside in the states controlled by Pakatan Rakyat, implying that the community had largely voted in favour of  the opposition

He also pointed out that despite being a minority in Parliament, Pakatan Rakyat has more Indian representatives compared to Barisan Nasional and MIC.

“In fact, when I attended the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (Indian Diaspora Conference) in India recently, I told Vayalar Ravi (Indian Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs) that Samy Vellu could no longer speak for the Indian community in Malaysia,” he said.

Ramasamy also claimed that Pakatan Rakyat has done more for the Indian community over the past 11 months since coming to power than what BN has done in decades.

“I do not go around boasting that I am the representative of Indians. I have never been alleged of squandering public funds and my reputation has never been tainted by scandals.

“Perhaps he (Samy Vellu) should stop talking before he alienates the Indian community further,” he added.

Describing Samy Vellu as a “spent force”, Ramasamy said: “Here is a man who has no respect for democracy, his fellow leaders in MIC or dissidents within the party.”

“There is no democracy in MIC because no one can contest effectively against him. In fact, many Indians believe their community has not progressed precisely because of leaders like him.

“Perhaps the best thing that he can do for the Indian community is to make an early exit before he continues to mislead them,” he added.

Responding to a question, the deputy chief minister maintained that he stood for elections on a multiracial platform.

“Samy Vellu may think that he represents the Indians. I would like to think that I represent Malaysians,” he said.

I think some of Dr Ramasamy’s answers are irrelevant, like the Samy losing his seat and the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas thing. He should just focus on the issues at hand.

well, let’s wait for these two leaders to bring out their report cards on what the have done in last 11 months. Logically, MIC via BN should have done a lot at Federal level and also in the non-opposition states of Johor, Malacca, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Terengganu, and Perlis. Thus I expect MIC’s report card to be slightly thicker. Let’s say a ratio of 55:45? Anything below that will be a failure in my books.

Let the battle begin!