KEDAH Menteri Besar Sanusi Md Nor has shrugged off MIC party leaders warning that they will not support him in the 15th general election.

Sanusi said he will not indulge in exchanges with the party over Thaipusam not being declared a holiday in the state.

He said MIC members supported Pakatan Harapan.

“Don’t want to indulge them, as even in GE14, MIC did not support us either. Most of them voted for PH. That’s why MIC was left with only one seat.

“The fact is that MIC needs votes from non-Indians,” he told Berita Harian online

Human Resource Minister M. Saravanan is the party’s sole representative in Parliament after winning the Tapah parliamentary seat in the last general election.

Over the past week, Sanusi has been having a row with MIC leaders for cancelling the Thaipusam holiday in Kedah this year. Thaipusam is not a state public holiday, but the Kedah government has usually granted a day off for the Hindu religious day since 2014 (cuti peristiwa). 

Sanusi said there was no need for a holiday in Kedah, because Covid-19 infections has forced the state on lockdown.  

Indian politicians, including from MIC, have protested the move, saying it is insensitive. MIC president SA Vigneswaran yesterday said the party will not support PAS in the state at the next general election. – January 25, 2021.