Will MIC and Samy Vellu submit or quit?

Will Samy Vellu submit to the realities of on the ground politics? Or will he threaten to quit BN solidarity?

Tonight the old warhorse Samy Vellu will meet his MIC office bearers. They will discuss what they regard as UMNO's interference into MIC's prerogative of nominating a candidate of its choice. So, they defiantly say, UMNO mustn't intervene into its choice of candidate. Or else. Or else what?

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  Will Samy and Palani instruct the majority of MICs operations rooms be closed?
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  Will Samy ask his people to boycott this by election?
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  Will Samy threaten to bring MIC out of BN?

This isn't a seat owned by MIC. Palani lost in the 2008 elections despite having served for 18 years and despite 'working very hard' attending to the rakyat in his place. He must be lying because if he has done so, then the rakyat wouldn't have rejected him. He can't even hold to that seat during General elections where the resources of all parties are spread thin. He must have been a useless fellow.

Samy Vellu wants him to be the candidate. Palani is his deputy and Samy must show his unyielding solidarity with Palani.

The problem is, Hulu Selangor isn't Samy's fiefdom that must concede and yield to his demands. The candidate, even if he is from MIC must be winnable. Judging from numbers alone, any candidate from MIC, Palani or not Palani or Mugilan will lose.

How will Samy respond to the clear signals from the ground? That if he fields Palani, MIC and BN will lose. If he agrees fielding another MIC candidate, fresh faced and a novice, MIC and BN will lose. This isn't about finding a candidate with a hail fellow well met can-play-video-games or futsal candidate. We must find a winnable candidate. Samy must direct his rational self to this agenda.

To find a winnable candidate, UMNO and BN must find a Malay candidate. Forget about agreeing this is traditionally an MIC constituency. This isn't theirs. They can field a candidate in the past because it was done at the pleasure of UMNO- yes UMNO. We have better face this reality rather than wailing by the roadside after consuming copious amounts of Thali Merah.

Maybe tonight, Samy Velu will be playing his greatest poker game by giving an ultimatum that MIC will leave BN if his candidate is not accepted. UMNO/BN does not need to respond meekly to this threat. MIC with only 3 seats in Parliament is an insignificant extra. BN must listen to the ground and field a candidate which it thinks has the most chances of winning. Even if the candidate isn't at all from MIC, let it be. Let's throw out the niceties by recognizing that this is a by election that only lasts up to 2012. Why should there be a difference between chucking out Palani now and chucking him out at the 13^th general elections? It makes no difference.

Samy will play his poker game. But he will also find, there will be not many co players in this game tonight.

Now, we move on to another story. What are we to make of MUkhriz's call for the people of Hulu Selangor to support BN as a show of support to his father Dr Mahathir? I like this slip of the tongue and relapse of the brain which clearly shows that MUkhriz is a non entity whose legitimacy and existence depends on keeping the memory of Mahathir alive. It confirms the general perception that Mukhriz is shallow. It would surprise many of his supporters to know that Mukhriz's name isn't even touted as a potential MB for Kedah.

Thamby, this is about winning a by election promoting and defending the leadership of DS Najib. This isn't about defending or promoting TDM anymore. If PKR campaigns on TDM- they are stupid but we don't compound that stupidity by acting like a political imbecile.

"It is good for us that PKR is fielding Zaid. It will be a pleasure to fight him here. Our chances of winning are better now since he has lots of baggage with him," said Jerlun MP Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir. Gua caya sama lu lah riz.

Well if he campaigns like he did at the Bukit Gantang by elections, the baggage that Zaid has will turn out to be within permissible limits.

You have your priorities wrong. The issue here is not which particular MIC person is chosen. The issue here isn't about assessing TDM. The issue here that can win HS for BN is the leadership of DS Najib. So, exploit the Najib factor.