MIC president hints at Sungai Siput showdown

MIC president hints at Sungai Siput showdown


MIC president SA Vigneswaran has hinted that he will contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in the 15th general election (GE15).

This follows his previous statement that he might not necessarily run in Sungai Siput, a Perak seat that MIC top brass traditionally contested, and instead be placed in a seat closer to the Klang Valley.

"Sungai Siput voters have trusted two former party presidents for 40 years. We have seen various progress there in these 40 years.

"So, I want to 'reset' (return) Sungai Siput to MIC after more than 14 years of this seat being controlled by the opposition.

"If I, as the MIC president, wish to contest in the general election this time, then I will contest in Sungai Siput," he said when speaking at the MIC Deepavali celebration party in Sungai Siput last night.

Previously, it was reported that Vigneswaran (above) will compete in Sungai Siput. However, he recently said there was still no final decision on whether he will be fielded in the seat.

For the record, former MIC president the late S Samy Vellu served as Sungai Siput MP for eight terms from September 1974, until he lost to PSM’s Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj in March 2008.

Historically, the seat was first won by MIC’s first president VT Sambanthan in the 1959 general election.

The incumbent Sungai Siput MP is PKR’s S Kesavan, who beat MIC’s SK Devamany in 2018.

MIC only has one parliamentary seat - Tapah - which is held by its deputy president M Saravanan.