MIC men quizzed over party polls

KUALA LUMPUR: Members of the MIC election steering committee, which oversaw the party elections last year, have been questioned by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) following complaints of alleged irregularities by party leaders.

The five – chairman Tan Sri K. Kumaran, Selva Mookiah, Datuk S.S. Rajagopal, Datuk V. Jagarasah, and Datuk V. Sivaparanjothi – were questioned on the running and conduct of the Nov 30 party elections held in Malacca.

Also queried by ROS was the party’s information chief L. Siva Subramaniam.

Former MIC vice-president Datuk Jaspal Singh and former Youth leaders Datuk T. Mohan and Datuk S.A. Vigneswaran were among leaders who had lodged complaints with ROS on alleged irregularities in the election for three vice-presidents and 23 central working committee (CWC) members.

The complaints were lodged in January after the CWC, which is the party’s highest decision-making body, officially accepted the party’s election results during its first meeting.

Disappointed with the CWC’s decision, several leaders then sought ROS’ assistance to hold fresh polls.

The complaints include allegations of irregularities in the votes counting process, as the votes to determine the three new vice-presidents had to be re-counted five times with the announcement of the winners being postponed to the next day.

Even though unofficial results showed former MIC vice-president Datuk S. Sothinathan, vice-president and incumbent Datuk M. Saravanan and Jaspal winning the posts, official results revealed that the winners were Sothinathan, Saravanan and MIC Johor Baru division chief Datuk S. Balakrishnan.

The recounting also showed that the numbers varied dramatically from the unofficial results which led to suspicion of vote rigging.

ROS officers recorded the statements of the complainants and visited the MIC headquarters last month.

Kumaran, when contacted, confirmed that the members were questioned separately by the ROS officers.

“They were only questioned about the party elections,” he said.

Siva, when contacted, confirmed that he was questioned by ROS officers.