Enmity Resolved
Pandithan and Samy Vellu, who were at one time best of friends, had been at loggerheads over more than two decades, often trading barbs through the media and trying to outdo each other through political manoeuvres.
Pandithan and Samy Vellu met for the first time in 12 years in June 2000, during the campaign for Barisan candidate S. Sothinathan in the Teluk Kemang by-election. Later, Samy Vellu publicly admitted that he had opposed IPF’s entry into Barisan Nasional.
In October 2003, Pandithan openly called for Samy Vellu to hand over the MIC party leadership to his deputy, Datuk S. Subramaniam, saying that Samy Vellu had stayed too long.
However, when Pandithan fell ill and was hospitalised in 2006, Samy Vellu visited him and the two fell into an emotional reunion.
The IPF chief told a press conference in July 2007 that he wanted to bury the enmity with Samy Vellu but ruled out any merger plans with MIC, a Barisan Nasional (BN) component and the country's biggest Indian-based political party.
"Enough is enough. It has been more than 20 years, I don't want to have any enmity with him (Samy Vellu). Bad blood between the two of us is not good. I want to be a friend.
"We should join forces to fight for the Indian community. Twenty years of fighting is too long (between both leaders)," were Pandithan's words at the press conference.
Read more about this topic: M. G. Pandithan
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