KUALA SELANGOR, April 15 (Bernama) -- Kuala Selangor MIC Division Chief S.P. Thirumoorthy today threatened to resign from the post if he was not named as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Ijok state by-election this month.

Thirumoorthy, 55, a secondary school teacher, claimed that the chairmen of 18 of the 36 party branches in the Ijok constituency would also quit along with him.

Thirumoorthy, who has been divisional chairman since 1994, said he had learnt that the BN candidate was not someone from the Kuala Selangor MIC division. The BN is expected to name the candidate tomorrow.

MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, responding to reporters' questions on Thirumoorthy's outburst, said he would not entertain the latter's demands.

"It is the prerogative of the (MIC) president to decide on the candidate. The BN Chairman (Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) has approved the candidate. I have also informed the Menteri Besar of Selangor (Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo)," he told a news conference in Batang Berjuntai near here.

Thirumoorthy said all his hard work of campaigning for MIC candidates, many of whom he claimed were from outside Ijok or Kuala Selangor, in the last several elections had gone unappreciated.

Samy Vellu, on the other hand, said Thirumoorthy was one of those who had caused disunity in the division for a long time.

"He (Thirumoorthy) has never been accepted as chairman by everyone. In the last divisional elections, there were lots of complaints against him. I saved him. I also have the support of 98 per cent of the branches," he said.

Asked whether he appreciated the hard work that Thirumoorthy claimed he had put in for the party, Samy Vellu said: "They can go. All the people in Ijok will remain with us. Anyway, I appreciate him for backbiting the party. I will never meet him again; we don't like traitors."

Samy Vellu also claimed that Thirumoorthy was among those who attempted to stab the party in the back when they sponsored an independent candidate to contest in Ijok in the last general election, in 2004, against the late Datuk K. Sivalingam.

Asked whether he would accept the resignation of Thirumoorthy, Samy Vellu said: "I don't want any resignation, let him get lost."

Samy Vellu said the MIC candidate to be announced tomorrow was well-accepted by not only Indian voters but also the other constituents because the person was a young local with a good education and acceptable to the grassroots.

The Ijok seat fell vacant following the death of Sivalingam of a heart attack in Chennai, India, on April 4.

The Election Commission has set April 19 for nomination and April 28 for polling in the by-election.

-- BERNAMA