SEVERAL MIC grassroots leaders have voiced their concern for the party’s dwindling support among Indians, noting that there is an increase in support from the community for Perikatan Nasional (PN) as of late.

FMT reported an MIC grassroots leader from the Klang Valley who spoke on condition of anonymity as saying that even Indians in urban areas were shifting their support to the Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin-led coalition.

“The party (MIC) has not been doing much groundwork and engaging with the people, whereas PN has been very active in this regard,” the grassroots leader told the news portal.

“Whether it is election season or not, PN has been working aggressively with the local community, especially PAS which has a very strong grassroots base.”

He warned that if this continued, the unity government might not enjoy much Indian support in the forthcoming polls.

“We already saw a massive surge of Indian support for PN during the six state elections last August, and it will only continue to increase,” he added.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) component party had witnessed its worst electoral performance at the 15th general election (GE15) in November 2022, which saw it winning only one of the 10 seats it had contested.

Following the disastrous outing, MIC and MCA had decided to skip the six state elections in August last year in Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Selangor and Negri Sembilan.

The state polls had seen Pakatan Harapan (PH) and UMNO losing several seats in Selangor and Penang while suffering a wipe-out in the PAS-led states of Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

According to a study by political analyst Bridget Welsh that was published by Malaysiakini, Indian votes for PH had dropped by 21%, 19%, and 12% in Negri Sembilan, Penang, and Selangor, respectively.

In contrast, Indian votes for PN in Penang, Negri Sembilan and Selangor had witnessed an increase by 29%, 19%, and 14%, respectively.

Meanwhile, another MIC grassroots leader from Melaka stated that one reason Indian support for BN had suffered a blow was due to the party’s disappointment with the federal government.

“The Indians had very high expectations of Anwar Ibrahim, but once he became prime minister, many promises were not kept,” the leader reckoned.

An MIC grassroots leader from Negri Sembilan further pointed out that BN must start working at the grassroots level to regain the trust of Indian voters.

“There is no Indian-based party bigger than us in this country, and if we don’t start working on the ground, another party could just come in and take over that position,” he said, citing the new Malaysian Indian People’s Party (MIPP) as an example.

MIPP was unveiled last year by former Selangor MIC Youth chief P. Punithan, who is the party’s president. Punithan was also appointed deputy chairman of PN’s Indian community committee in July 2023.

The grassroots leader stressed that government leaders should go down to the ground and help MIC regain the trust of Indian voters.

“There is no point in us going to the ground on our own because the people will look down on us, as there is no representation from MIC in the Cabinet. Therefore, some leaders in the government must vouch for us, too,” he added. - March 28, 2024

https://focusmalaysia.my/mic-grassroots-leaders-shift-of-indian-support-to-pn-a-worrying-trend/