Samy Vellu will not be contesting GE13

He said Samy Vellu, who is Barisan Nasional (BN) coordinator for Sungai Siput, had been hard at work in ensuring the BN was able to wrest back the seat which was lost in the last general election in 2008.

"Datuk Seri Samy Vellu has been working hard in Sungai Siput to garner support from the people...but he will not be a candidate," Palanivel said in a text messge to Bernama Friday.

Samy Vellu in answering queries from reporters on Wednesday had described himself as a "winnable candidate" following the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat, also on Wednesday.

"I am a winnable candidate, there's no doubt about it. I am willing to re-contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat," Samy Vellu had declared at an event here on Wednesday.

He was the member of parliament for Sungai Siput for more than three decades since 1974, until he lost his stronghold seat to Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj of the Socialist Party Malaysia (PSM) by a 1,821-vote majority.

Samy was also the MIC president for nearly three decades until Palanivel succeeded him in 2010.

On the seat allocation for MIC, Palanivel said the party looked set to contest in the nine parliamentary seats and 19 state seats.

However, he remained light-tipped on the names of candidates for the 28 seats.

"We are still negotating to swap two state seats in Perak and one in Johor with other Barisan Nasional parties for GE13," he said.