By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) is planning a homecoming for its dissidents prior to the party’s presidential election in March, a media report said.
K.P. Samy, a former MIC central working committee member whose branch was closed in January last year for supporting the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf), has been reinstated in the party.
MIC president S. Samy Vellu said he had approved K.P. Samy’s appeal to re-enter the party.
He would also reinstate, in stages, others who had been sacked, New Straits Times said Friday.
In another development, M. Muthu Palaniappan, who was sacked for bad-mouthing Samy Vellu in the run-up to the MIC presidential election, has been given a reprieve.
In an unexpected twist to the controversy, the party central working committee Thursday quashed the disciplinary board’s decision to expel Palaniappan.
Palaniappan, when contacted by the New Straits Times, said he would “continue with his campaign to unseat Samy Vellu”, the newspaper said.
It is learnt that Samy Vellu had earlier told the committee that they should let Palaniappan off with a warning and give him a chance to contest the presidential election.
Palaniappan, who announced his decision to take on Samy Vellu in the coming presidential elections towards the end of last year, was given a show-cause letter Dec 23 by the MIC disciplinary committee over allegations that he had made media statements detrimental to the party and Samy Vellu.