KUALA LUMPUR: Despite MIC's lacklustre performances in the last two general elections, Datuk P. Kamalanathan believes the party is still relevant to champion the struggles of the people, especially the Indian community.
"Of course it is. I have no doubt MIC will continue to be relevant dulu, kini dan selamanya (then, now and forever).
"Until today, we have many people visiting the MIC headquarters to seek various kinds of assistance. If MIC isn't relevant, we would not have visitors talking to us.
"Today, the party has nearly 3,500 branches across the country, except for Sarawak," the MIC central working committee member said in an interview with the New Straits Times' Beyond the Headlines.
Kamalanathan said MIC, which turns 77 this year, has taken steps to rejuvenate itself since the poor performance in 2018's 14th General Election. In that election, MIC contested nine parliamentary seats but won only Tapah and Cameron Highlands.
However, the Election Court nullified the Cameron Highlands result after it found evidence of vote-buying by MIC's Datuk C. Sivarraajh. A by-election in January 2019 saw Barisan Nasional retaining the seat through Datuk Mohd Ramli Noor.
MIC fared even worse in 2022's GE15, winning only one of the 10 parliamentary seats it contested.
Kamalanathan admitted that the outcome of GE14, in which BN was ousted for the first time after six decades of helming the country, was a "most challenging time" for MIC as the party had never served as the opposition.
"In 2018, we needed a leader who could keep the party together, convince the party machinery and members that all is not lost and that we could move forward.
"At that time, we had a leader in Tan Sri S.A Vigneswaran.
"It is not easy to lead a party with a huge number of followers among the Indian community that isn't financially strong.
"That was also when many were leaving to join other political parties. He had to bring back all members in the party and he did so in 2018.
"He is the right person to lead MIC. He kept the party together and brought all our resources together as well. The party also has a good deputy president (Datuk Seri M. Saravanan) who works very well with Vigneswaran."
Kamalanathan said Vignes-waran and Saravanan had continued to strengthen the legacy of the party's seventh president, the late Tun S. Samy Vellu, who also founded the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology (AIMST) University.
"The university used to owe hundreds of millions of ringgit in bank loans. When ... (Vigneswaran and Saravanan) took over, they changed the situation, and the university is now debt-free.
"We paid off the loans and the university belongs to us.
"We are the only Indian-based political party in Malaysia and around the world to have our own university.
"As of today, the university has produced thousands of graduates who completed their MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree)," said Kamalanathan, who is also on the university's board of directors.
AIMST is a private university established in 2001 by MIC education arm Maju Institute of Educational Development (Mied). It offers courses in medicine, science and technology.
"To answer your question will MIC be relevant? Yes, we will be relevant because the party leadership, especially Vigneswaran and Saravanan, are focused on ensuring the community's welfare is taken care of.
"They have an excellent relationship with the unity government, which is trying its best to help the community."
Watch the full interview in Beyond the Headlines on the NST's YouTube channel today.