Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email Mogan won by majority of 1808 votes compared to 4084 in 2004 by Datuk Krishnan. With the introduction of new generation voters, Mogan will be in trouble if he does not engage the younger generation. Starting off by saying Indians still support MIC may not be the smartest thing to do.
Indians still support MIC, says Mogan
AS the MIC begins to lick its wounds and starts picking up the pieces, Negri Sembilan’s newly elected Jeram Padang assemblyman V.S. Mogan claims that the Indian community has not totally abandoned the party. Mogan is one of the very few MIC survivors of last Saturday’s political tsunami that almost wiped out all the MIC candidates. Even party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu was swept out in the biggest election shocker of the country so far.
Greenhorn Mogan won the Jeram Padang state seat in Negri Sembilan with a 1,808 majority in the contest against Parti Keadilan Rakyat flag-bearer K. Manoharan. In the 2004 general election, Datuk L. Krishnan represented the MIC and won the seat with a 4,084-majority. The mixed state constituency comprises 46.2% Malay voters, 39% Indians and 14% Chinese.
Mogan, a 40-year-old former teacher, said the Indians, which made almost a third of the electorates in the constituency, would continue to support the Barisan Nasional.
The father of three said that since he was the lone MIC assemblyman in the state, he would have to work harder to look into the problems of the constituents as well as that of the Indian community. “We need to get more young people to join the party. If we are able to win them over, then my task would be made much easier,” Mogan said.
MIC vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan and Negri Sembilan party chairman Datuk T. Rajagopalu were both soundly beaten by PKR candidates in the state. Sothinathan’s loss was unexpected as in 2004 he had won the Telok Kemang parliamentary seat with a 17,777-vote majority. Last Saturday, Negri Sembilan PKR chief Datuk Kamarul Bahrin Abbas sent him packing with a 2,804-vote majority.
