MIC veteran Mohan’s shock ouster as VP starts tongues wagging

FMT 

MIC veteran Mohan’s

shock ouster as VP starts

tongues wagging

K. Parkaran-07 Jul 2024, 04:42 PM

Party insiders say the two-term vice-president was not on the president’s list following rumours he was going to stand against M Saravanan for the deputy president’s post.

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T Mohan held several senior positions and was also a two-term senator in his 30 years as an MIC member. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: MIC vice-president T Mohan’s unexpected loss in the party elections today has put his political future in limbo.

The veteran member was slated to be the party’s deputy chief at the next MIC polls, according to party insiders.

Having held several senior positions in the party, and being a two-term senator in his 30 years with MIC, his shock defeat has set tongues wagging. Sources in the party say he was not on the “official list” of party president SA Vigneswaran.

M Asojan and T Murugiah defended their positions as MIC vice-presidents, while newcomer R Nelson pipped Mohan by 58 votes for the third slot in the election of the party’s top leadership for the 2024-2027 term.

According to the final tally, Asojan obtained 8,633 votes, followed by Murugaiah (8,566), Nelson (8,338) and Mohan (8,280).

MIC has more than 4,000 branches in 140 divisions, with six office-bearers of each branch being eligible to vote for the three vice-presidents and 21 central working committee (CWC) slots.

Vigneswaran and M Saravanan retained the top two positions after they were returned unopposed.

Mohan, a 51-year-old businessman, had held the vice-president’s post since 2018. He was the MIC Youth leader in 2008, a CWC member for several terms and a senator from 2017 to 2022.

One source said Mohan was initially rumoured to be going for the deputy president’s post against incumbent Saravanan but apparently changed his mind after a deal was brokered, with the party leadership deciding to maintain the status quo at the top.

“But, slowly his supporters discovered that the party leadership was actively trying to push him out as they feared his strong grassroots support may eventually see him becoming the next deputy president,” he told FMT.

Another source claimed the party resorted to suspending some branches aligned with him using minor excuses, which meant the delegates from these branches were not able to vote.

“We were told the party leadership refused to let him have the delegates list when he requested for it, thus putting him at a disadvantage.

“Certain leaders were also said to have called up delegates to inform them of the president’s choice,” the source said.

FMT has reached out to Mohan and Vigneswaran for comment.