ADUN SPEAKS | There is no need for the war of words between Umno and MIC.

They know they need each other, more so in the case of the MIC.

Umno’s Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz took offence when the MIC president SA Vigneswaran asked for additional parliamentary seats in the 15th general election (GE15).

There was no reason for Nazri to use harsh words against Vigneswaran by calling him a “political prostitute”.

Certainly, not a nice term to be used against fraternal political parties.

Nazri should have simply said that the MIC, given its weak base in the Indian community, should not be asking for more seats.

Even the existing seats won by the MIC were due to the support rendered by the Malays, supporters of Umno.

I think Nazri, whatever happened to him, went overboard by saying that the MIC being “beggars” or “prostitutes” cannot be choosers.

In other words, since the MIC cannot deliver Indian votes to BN, the party should not make unreasonable demands on BN or Umno in particular.

I am not sure why the otherwise amicable Nazri had to engage in unsavoury language to put the MIC down.

He basically reiterated something that the whole world knows about the MIC. The party has hardly any support from the Indians in the country.

Indians over the two decades have migrated from the MIC to support multi-racial political parties such as DAP and PKR.

PKR probably has more Indian memberships than MIC.

Nazri should also be careful in throwing words like “political prostitute” against the MIC leader.

Such a phrase might not be confined to the MIC but might have wider application.

It is precisely for this reason that the former Gerakan leader and present MIC vice-president A Kohilan Pillay reminded that the Umno leaders living in glass houses should not throw stones.

Stones might be thrown back at their glass houses.

Kohilan went on to say that the term “political prostitute” was equally applicable to some unprincipled Umno leaders who had deserted the party after the last general election to join Bersatu.

The trouble with Umno leaders like Nazri was that they easily become intoxicated without even consuming alcohol.

They don’t see the faults of their own party but yet have the temerity to strike at the MIC, the party that has been loyal to BN for a very long time.

In fact, MIC members have been more loyal to their party in comparison with Umno members. Some would go to the extent of describing the relationship between the two as one bordering servility and obsequiousness.

Nazri might have been irked by the MIC’s constant demand for additional seats.

He is right in saying that the MIC cannot demand more seats under circumstances where they cannot deliver the support of the Indian community.

Even if additional seats are given to the MIC they might have to be bailed out during the election by Umno.

MIC cannot run away from this undeniable fact.

I would think that the MIC under the new leadership of Vigneswaran should have revealed to Umno how it plans to win back Indian support.

If at all there are some serious plans. Otherwise, the party might be a laughing stock.

Anyway, it is not that BN is going to sweep GE15.

The likelihood of some of its top leaders being convicted for corruption and financial embezzlement might pose difficulties for BN to make a clean sweep in GE15.

This is not to speak of the littoral combat ship multi-billion project scandal implicating some top Umno leaders.

BN’s victory is certainly not assured in the GE15. Thus, if Umno goes down, the MIC might be dragged down as well.

In this sense, the ultimate fate of both the parties is inextricably tied together.

Umno might be a superordinate party in BN in comparison with the MIC, but the sad truth is that both need each other.

The MIC cannot survive without the support of Ummo, but the latter needs the former for the purpose of political window dressing for multi-racial propaganda.

P RAMASAMY is the Perai assemblyperson and Penang deputy chief minister II.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.