More MIC Drama

The MIC candidate who was dropped at the last minute M Soorianrayanan denied an allegation by the opposition that he was boycotting the Barisan Nasional (BN) campaign for the Tebrau parliamentary seat in Johor.
The Tebrau MIC chief also denied the allegation that a majority of his disgruntled supporters had joined PKR.
According to Bernama, Sooriyanarayan said although he was sad at being dropped, he would still throw his weight behing BN.
"Every day I have three ceramah sessions, apart from meeting Indian voters in Taman Pelangi Indah and Kangkar Tebrau," he added.
Soorianarayanan, 60, was dropped as MIC candidate for the Tenggaroh seat at the last minute and replaced by Johor MIC Wanita chief T Murukasvary.
MIC president S Samy Vellu said the decision was made due to requests from Wanita MIC members who wanted a woman candidate.
However, Malaysiakini reported last week that there could be another reason for dropping Soorianarayanan.
It is learnt that he was allegedly investigated by the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) and his file has been sent to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for the next course of action.
But this has yet to be confirmed.
'Cheap tactic'
Meanwhile, Sooriyanarayanan also denied an allegation that he was not present during the nomination process yesterday, saying that it was a "cheap tactic" by the opposition to get Indian votes.
He said that he was together with BN candidates Abdul Halim Suleiman (Puteri Wangsa state seat), Maulizan Bujang (Tiram state seat) and Ling Ban San (Tebrau parliamentary seat) during the nomination.
Sooriyanarayan vowed to put his personal feelings aside and work hard to ensure that Indian votes go in favour of the BN candidates.
The percentage of Indian voters in Tebrau is the second highest in Johor at 14 percent and he would make sure that 90 to 95 percent would vote for BN on March 8.
He said that the government has always helped the Indians in Tebrau and provided various assistance including financial help to build Tamil schools and Hindu temples.
He cited an example where the government allocated RM1.5 million to build Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Ladang Ulu Tiram and a piece of land to build a Hindu temple.
Soorianarayanan pointed out that the opposition candidates who would challenge BN candidates in the area were "outsiders" who had never shown any interest in efforts do develop the area.