Today’s NST analyses the reasons on why efforts are underway to get remove of MIC youth chief S.A. Vigneswaran from him post. Similarly, few other MIC youth leaders (S.Ramis-deputy, M.Kumaresan-secretary, K.Raj Kumar-information head, and S.Murugesan-CWC representative) who are above the “retirement” age of 41 would be asked to relinquish their post.

Meanwhile according to NST, his deputy, S. Ramis said some of the youth council members who, too, were asked to leave, would meet Samy Vellu in two weeks to seek an explanation. “Not all of us want to seek legal opinions on the age limit. We just want to ask Datuk Seri why we were asked to leave,” he said.

The NST says that members are not buying the reason given by MIC leadership on the removal of Vigneswaran.

Why was S. Vigneswaran, the once blue-eyed boy of the MIC president, asked to vacate his Youth chief post only now, two years past the due date?  This is the million ringgit question on the lips of those interested in MIC politics.

The party constitution says that the youth chief must vacate his post when he reaches his 41st birthday, yet Vigneswaran was allowed to stay on beyond the age limit. He is now 43.

Many are asking why not wait until he finishes his term, which ends next June, since he was an elected chief?

Vigneswaran had also been skipping CWC meetings and the Selangor MIC AGM recently.

Youth wing members said Vigneswaran’s absence from several central working committee meetings and the Selangor AGM further fuelled speculation that he could not see eye to eye with Samy Vellu.

A senior member of the party argued that since the Youth chief was elected, he should be allowed to finish his term. She also questioned why the Puteri and Putera chiefs were allowed to stay even though both had exceeded the age limit.

“If it was because Vigneswaran did not attend meetings, then he should have been referred to the disciplinary committee, not told to vacate his post,” she said.

Sources in the party said the sudden move to ask Vigneswaran to vacate his post was to ensure that he would not openly question the party supremo at the MIC annual general meeting next month.

» Read more: Sayonara Vigneswaran

just before the elections, Mahathir condemned Samy Vellu, saying Samy never did much for the community. Samy still kept quiet.  If one can recall all the way back to 2006, Samy was quoted By Nanban and Makkal Osai as saying in his speech during Johor MIC Convention that:

Mahathir had promised ‘this and that but in the end told the community nehi (‘no’ in Hindi)’.

He later denied making such statements, and planned to sue the two dailies. MIC supporters also burnt the newspapers and threatened the offices of the dailies. He called up Mahathir and explained the situation to him. The following day, he clarified via Malaysiakini:

MIC president S Samy Vellu today said that former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad had done a lot for the Indian Malaysian community during his 22-year tenure.

The veteran politician, who telephoned malaysiakini from Sarawak, claimed that his statements were distorted by Tamil dailies Makkal Osai and Malaysia Nanban.  The dailies reported that Samy Vellu told MIC delegates at a party convention in Johor on Tuesday that Mahathir did not do anything for the community and had failed to keep his promises made under the Eighth Malaysia Plan (8MP).

“For the information of malaysiakini readers, I hold Mahathir as a high-esteemed leader in my heart. Anything he ordered, we did right away,” said Samy Vellu, who is also works minister.  “He (Mahathir) is a great leader who has helped us (the Indian Malaysian community) a lot,” he added.

Among others, Samy Vellu said, the former premier had given the community RM120 million to build a university, RM8 million for the Tafe college in Seremban and money to build 60 Tamil schools nationwide.

“On several occasions, he (Mahathir) had done his best for the community,” he stressed  “It was unfortunate that down the line some of these were not carried out and we did not achieve the three percent equity target under the 8MP,” he added » Read more: Liar Samy Vellu condemns Mahathir, yet again