Nominations for the president’s post closed at 12pm today with Vigneswaran, a former Senate president, the only party member to have submitted a nomination form for the top position.

MIC will hold its party elections for the 2024-2027 term on April 12.

The former Kota Raja MP was first elected as MIC president in July 2018, after Barisan Nasional was voted out of the federal government.

During the 77th MIC general assembly in November last year, the party unanimously passed a resolution barring any contest for the post of president and deputy president in the 2024 party elections.

MIC deputy president M Saravanan said the resolution was passed after several motions at the state level, including in Pahang and Perak, that both posts be uncontested during the party polls.

In announcing that Vigneswaran had retained the top post, Saravanan said he was only the second person to serve three terms as MIC president after the late S Samy Vellu.

Meanwhile, Vigneswaran thanked MIC members for allowing him to serve as their president for another term, urging them to ensure that Saravanan remained as his deputy.

“I’m telling you that only (Saravanan) can be my deputy,” he said.

Separately, Vigneswaran said MIC would not demand to contest the Kuala Kubu Baharu by-election in Selangor, which fell vacant following the death of its assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong.

“It’s not our seat to begin with, so why should we demand (to contest)? We are not a selfish party. We are in a coalition (government) now, so we will ensure that the (coalition government) wins.”

Lee, a three-term Kuala Kubu Baharu assemblyman, died last week after a battle with cancer.

We are live on Telegram, subscribe here for breaking news and the latest announcements.