Former Kapar MP Manickavasagam may join MIC

KLANG: Former PKR Kapar MP S. Manickavasagam (pic) may be joining the MIC soon.

Sources say various Kapar Barisan Nasional divisional leaders have been courting Manickavasagam after he was slapped with a two-year suspension by his party in August.

MIC secretary-general A. Sakthivel said he was informed that Manickavasagam may be interested in joining the party.

“Some divisional leaders from Kapar have informed me of this and asked me to meet Manickavasagam.

“But I want to make sure he is really interested and open to the idea before approaching him,” said Sakthivel, adding that he will be carrying out his own information-gathering regarding the matter.

Manickavasagam declined to comment when contacted yesterday.

He was suspended for alleging that PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had accepted a bribe of between RM300,000 and RM400,000 from a Klangbased businessman to not nominate him to contest the Kapar seat in the last general election.

The former MP won the seat in 2008 with a 12,297 majority against MIC’s Datin Paduka Komala Krishnamoorthy.

A division leader who discussed the matter with Manickavasagam said the former MP still had strong support in the constituency.

“We at the Kapar division feel Barisan will have a better chance of wresting the seat from PKR if we field Manickavasagam, as the people here know him well and he lives around here as well.

“The people want someone who lives here and knows them well and that is why we feel Manickavasagam will be an asset to us,” said the division leader who declined to be named.

The current Kapar MP, PKR’s G. Manivanan, won the seat in the 2013 polls with a 23,790 majority against Sakthivel and four other candidates.

Manivanan obtained 69,849 votes while Sakthivel garnered 46,059 votes.