The three musketeers in opposition, championing Indians

While there are plenty of political parties claiming to represent the Indian community over the years, three are relatively new.

The latest is the Malaysian Indian People’s Party led by P Punithan. It officially was accepted into the opposition coalition Perikatan Nasional yesterday.

The party has been moving silently since its inception late last year.

The buzz over the party was triggered by the possibility of it getting its baptism by fire in the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election.

However as of yesterday, it can be confirmed that MMIP is not in the race there.

By comparison, this is the sole opposition Indian party in a coalition and its leader is the party president in PN.

The second party is United for the Rights of Malaysians, better known as Urimai. The party was formed by DAP’s former deputy secretary general P Ramasamy who was popular as Penang Deputy Chief Minister II.

The party did meet opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainuddin in the initial stages but it did not lead to Urimai joining PN.

In terms of staying in thelimelight, Ramasamy continues to voice out issues by writing to the press instead of using the various social media platforms.

Two more party stalwarts – M Satees and David Marshall are more at ease via podcasts and TikTok. Despite being former DAP members just as Ramasamy, they tend to raise India’s political issues to the crowd here. More specifically the issues tend to be issues from India’s southern state – Tamil Nadu.

Another former DAP lawmaker in Urimai is Kamache Doray Rajoo who used to be Sabak assemblyman in Pahang.

The final Indian opposition party is Malaysia Advancement Party led by P Waythamoorthy since its inception in 2019.

Waythamoorthy is a former minister in charge of national unity under former prime minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. He was also a senator.

However he was thrusted into the political scene due to his activism in Hindraf.

Members of MAP are mostly made up of former Hindraf activists.

All three musketeers have one thing in common – none have representatives in the legislative assemblies.

However in view of the drop of votes from Indian voters during the state polls last year, it is vital for Pakatan Harapan component parties as well as MIC to prevent a further drop in the vote and support of the Indian community.

There may be 6.6 percent of the total population but every vote counts. Even one vote can make a difference.

Hence there is a need for the multiracial PH to resolve the issues of this community soon instead of dragging it.