BARISAN Nasional (BN) component party MIC confirmed it will take part in the upcoming general election, its president S.A. Vigneswaran said today. 

In ending speculations of a possible hiatus due to internal conflict with BN, he said the central working committee (CWC) in a meeting today decided to accept all the seats allocated by coalition chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi. 

“We will contest in 10 parliamentary seats that have been allocated and given to us by the chairman,” Vigneswaran said at a press conference today following the CWC meeting. 

“They are Padang Serai, Sungai Siput, Tapah, Teluk Intan, Hulu Selangor, Kota Raja, Kuala Langat, Batu, Port Dickson and Segamat,” he added.

Vigneswaran said MIC accepts all the seats given to the party with an open heart. 

He said its members would need to work hard to win the seats and claimed to have put its trust in party leaders and machinery to ensure its victory. 

“We have to ensure that all the Indian votes in all states are given to BN candidates. 

“If we don’t work hard, we cannot regret our carelessness later,” he said. 

Vigneswaran added that the coalition machinery needs to work seriously to ensure as many BN candidates as possible win parliamentary seats to ensure that they can take over Putrajaya again. 

On another matter, Vigneswaran said MIC did not boycott the BN event last night where the coalition unveiled its candidate for the upcoming general election.  

Without elaborating on the matter, he said MIC had to come to a consensus on matters relating to the party.

Sungai Buloh seat swap 

Vigneswaran also said MIC agreed to swap its traditional Sungai Buloh seat with Umno because it felt that a candidate like Khairy Jamaluddin has a better chance of winning at the federal constituency.

He said such a move would benefit BN as a whole. 

“A person like KJ (Khairy) has a large following and is an up and coming politician.

“His chances winning Sg Buloh is high because he is a very good candidate and the constituency is an urban Malay area,” he said. 

Vigneswaran described seat swaps between BN component parties as “family matter” and said it should be done to sustain the coalition. 

“This is what we call a family relationship. 

“Our accommodation (of seat swaps) must have a short and long term plan but it must be sustainable for BN,” he said. 

Friends of BN

Vigneswaran also said MIC welcomed “friends of BN” who will be contesting under the coalition’s ticket this time. 

“As long as our seats aren’t affected we’re fine with it,” he said, expressing party’s gratitude to BN.

Yesterday, two Indian-based parties made history when it was given seats to contest under the BN banner in the 2022 general election.

Zahid announced seats for both Makkal Sakti and Indian Progressive Front (IPF). 

Apart from these, two other parties were also given a seat each – Parti Cinta Malaysia (PCM) and Kongres India Muslim Malaysia (Kimma). 

All four parties are labelled as Friends of BN. 

Zahid announced that Makkal Sakti president R.S. Thanenthiran will contest in Nibong Tebal, while T. Loganathan will do so in Jelutong. 

PCM’s Razalif Mohamad Zain will contest in Bukit Bendera and Kimma president Syed Ibrahim Kader has been named as the candidate for Puchong. – November 2, 2022.