During a special gathering held at the MIC headquarters last Wednesday, its deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan described Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the first prime minister to step into the premise in 40 years.

Saravanan added that this month marks four decades since a prime minister has come to meet the leadership of the various levels of MIC, one of the founding parties of Parti Perikatan or Alliance Party, which was later rebranded as Barisan Nasional (BN).

In fact, the historic moment was not the main agenda of the day. On the other hand, the main aspect was the extent to which the presence of the 10th Prime Minister is important, vital and significant from the political point of view, especially during the upcoming elections in six states.

Anwar’s presence at the helm of the Unity Government has been seen as an important aspect as the six states are having their elections on August 12.

Ahead of the program, many speculated that Anwar had to attend to rally support as the six state elections are entering a critical phase.

It is critical because every vote is important to strengthen the base of political power, to obtain as many seats and to form the state governments.

Discussions and write-ups on social media claim that Anwar has no choice but to appear in person to explain his position as Prime Minister and the chief of Pakatan Harapan and bring back a solid base before the crucial elections.

The same goes for MIC.

In the beginning of his speech, Anwar jokingly said that he had visited the Umno headquarters located close to Menara MIC, which was the tallest building when it was erected along Jalan Rahmat, Kuala Lumpur, more than five decades ago.

As Prime Minister, Anwar added that he had attended Chinese New Year celebrations at Wisma MCA early this year, but had never stepped into the MIC building.

So, he said he wanted to meet MIC members at their “own house.”

So, why now? And, about ten days before the polling day? Do Anwar and the Unity Government really need and expect strong support from Indian voters, and also MIC members?

Although not all members of the Indian community are MIC members, and not all Indians support the BN and candidates fielded by MIC in the 2008 general election and after, Anwar expects a strong support from the Indian community and MIC members.

In his speech at the event, MIC members expressed their dissatisfaction to Anwar.

They claimed that MIC has been “mistreated” by the Unity Government since it was given the mandate to rule the country.

Expressing his party’s regret, MIC President Tan Sri S.A. Vigneswaran said MIC is now at a crossroads especially in term of its position within BN after not being given space to contest in state elections, especially in the four states of Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

He also said MIC’s discomfort with the treatment received from the government and BN regarding various issues, including not giving its MPs ministerial positions or absorbing them into government-linked companies (GLCs).

And finally, the MIC president gave his assurance that the party would assist the election machinery to ensure victory for candidates from the Unity Government.

It would not be right for anyone to underestimate the power of Indians votes. Every vote counts!

Due to various well-known and undisclosed reasons, MIC has changed its mind and decided to support Unity Government candidates.

Last month, MIC, together with MCA, another of its friends in BN, made an open statement that it will not contest the states elections.

MIC, which has been seen as the main political party representing the Indian community, is the one and only component in BN since it was established.

There are several other parties that have been established to represent the Indian community in the last two decades, but only one is in BN.

A number of parties, such as Makkal Sakti, are friends of BN.

Makkal Sakti’s president also attended the Wednesday gathering, and the party was given a seat to contest in last November’s general election, but was unsuccessful.

Aside from Makkal Sakti, Friends of BN also includes Malaysian Indian Progressive Front, Malaysian Indian Muslim Congress, Malaysian Indian United Party and Parti Punjabi Malaysia.

Indeed, MIC being not keen to contest is not surprising. It has been reported that MIC wants to mobilize its strategy and resources to face the 16th general election.

MIC was once seen as the only party representing the interests of the Indians, and until the late 1990s was the only BN party that had ever recorded 100 per cent victory in elections at both the state and parliamentary levels.

MIC maintained the record until 2004, and the 2008 general election changed the landscape of Malaysian politics, when MIC lost its magic touch.

It lost many parliamentary and state seats to Pakatan Rakyat components PKR and DAP. It was the beginning of a completely different political scenario compared to what we witnessed three or four decades ago.

In today’s complex and continuous uncertain political environment, MIC has decided not to contest the very important, crucial and significant state elections.

The next question is whether MIC is really capable of attracting the support that PH-BN needs under the current platform, and to what extent Indian support is still important against the backdrop of a ravaging “green wave” and new-generation sentiment which we are now witnessing.

Despite the unclear reasons behind the decision not to contest several days before the nomination, Vigneswaran said his party had been excluded from participating in the seat negotiation process.

The leader claimed that MIC’s interests were not taken into account in determining the seats.

All the while Umno has been considered the dominant party in BN, and was once considered the “big brother” to other BN component parties.

Interestingly, MIC decided not to contest but said it would support BN. Today, only Umno is carrying the BN flag and logo.

Although BN is part of the Unity Government, MIC has decided not to support the candidates of PH, the largest coalition in the Unity Government.

The decision taken by MIC is not surprising at all. Looking at the series of internal political developments in BN over the past two years, especially since Perikatan Nasional (PN) was formed in 2020, there is already a rough impression that MIC will move into a different direction.

The situation also illustrates that MIC is disappointed with BN’s leadership style. They want to send a firm and strong message.

PH fielded a number of Indian candidates. A total of 56 candidates, including 13 independents and 17 from PN are trying their best.

Many developments have taken place over the past five years. Malaysia’s political landscape will change in the next five to ten years. Thus, MIC and other parties that represent the Indians need to work together to gather the votes of Indians who still have a “strong say” in Malaysian politics.

Although the percentage of Indian voters is getting smaller, their power base cannot be denied, and they can play a role in determining the victory of candidates and parties.

Recent statistics show the percentage of Indian population at around six percent.

There are more than 40 seats in four states (Kedah, Penang, Selangor and Negeri Sembilan) with 15% to 35% Indian voters, meaning there are between 5,000 to 8,000 Indian voters in those seats, a significant number that could determine the victory of any political party.

As this is crystal clear, all political parties have finally started to appreciate Indians votes in these critical state elections. This valuable scenario will persist in the next few elections.

In a speech last Wednesday, Anwar also called on Indian leaders in the country to unite if they want to solve the issues facing the community.

According to him, although the call is not new, he urged the leaders to unite under one umbrella for a stronger line.

It would not be right for anyone to underestimate the power of Indians votes on August 12. Every vote counts!

(Dr. G Manimaran is a former journalist with experience covering elections since 1991. He is also the co-author of the book Malaysian Democratic Elections.)