MIC Youth chief Vigneswaran quits

SHAH ALAM: Former MIC Youth chief S. A. Vigneswaran has quit the party with immediate effect citing problems with party president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and for being forced out of his youth post before his term was up.

Vigneswaran said he had no immediate intention to join another party and also had not decided if he rejoin it if the party number one was to leave.

“I have never been a quitter and it is against my every instinct to leave the party that I loved and served for the past 25 years but I have been forced into this action,” he told a press conference here on Sunday.

He said it had become increasingly difficult for him and youth members to work of late due to the strong sentiment among the people against Samy Vellu.

“It has also become difficult for me to stay in the party now that I have realised that all that we have done has been to serve one man and not the organisation,” he claimed.

He said he would continue to work with youths through the Malaysian Indian Youth Development Foundation (MIYDF), which he formed over a year ago and is the chairman of, and would start meeting with related government agencies to see what role he could play.

He said he would also meet with Barisan Nasional youth chief Datuk Seri Hishamhuddin Tun Hussein to look into how they could continue to conduct programmes to benefit youths.

Angry Youth chief leaves MIC
MIC Youth chief S.A. Vigneswaran quit the party and challenged his party boss Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu to do likewise today.

Vigneswaran is angered by being forced to step down from office, announcing that he’s never a quitter but is unable to accept his removal from MIC’s top Youth post.

As a parting shot, he advised Samy Vellu to prove that he can survive without MIC or he will destroy the party.

Vigneswaran was the former parliamentary secretary for the Youth and Sports Ministry. He was elected to head the MIC Youth movement in 2002.

Once considered a Samy Vellu blue-eyed boy, his party fortunes suffered a drastic reversal after earning the unwanted tag as MIC’s biggest loser in Election 2008. He was defeated by more than 20,000 votes for the Kota Raja parliamentary seat.