The GE13 results show that BN was wrong in assuming that it has regained the community’s support.
In the build-up to GE13, Barisan Nasional leaders, particularly those from MIC, engaged in a lot of chest thumping about Indian support for the coalition returning to pre-2008 levels.
They claimed that Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s overtures had cooled down the community’s anger with the BN government that became obvious following the 2007 Hindraf protest and the subsequent ISA crackdown on its key leaders.
Leaving BN propaganda aside, there were some credible claims that the community felt let down by some Pakatan Rakyat state governments, particularly Kedah.
The PAS-led government of the rice-bowl state had failed to honour a promise to declare Thaipusam a state holiday. Furthermore, there were complaints that the sole Indian representative in the state executive council, S Manikumar of PKR, had failed to resolve several issues of concern to members of the community living in southern Kedah.
Nevertheless, observers noted that the community was generally pleased with the performance of the Penang and Selangor governments, particularly in relation to employment opportunities for Indians and issues regarding land for Hindu temples and Tamil schools.
In the days approaching GE13, Najib appeared to have pulled off a coup when Hindraf chairman P Waythamoorthy signed a memorandum of understanding with his government and subsequently urged the Indian community to return BN to Parliament with a two-third majority.
There was immediate disapproval from his estranged Hindraf associates, including his brother, P Uthayakumar, who in the eyes of many Indians is still the leader of the movement.
Waythamoorthy’s perceived betrayal of the Indian cause provoked strong protests in many parts of the nation. This did not bode well for BN, at least on paper.
To make matters worse, it turned out on nomination day that BN had decided to back the candidacy of maverick politician Zulkifli Noordin, just weeks after it became known that he had insulted Hinduism in a talk recorded on video and uploaded to the Internet.
So how did the Indians vote on May 5?
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