Speaking to FMT, Manogaran said he acknowledged that Suresh – like himself – has been doing a lot of ground work in the constituency but added that as long as BN held power, there was only so much they could do for the constituents.
He said real change could only be brought to the people if BN was defeated.
G Palanivel, the former MIC president, won the seat in the 2013 general election in a 5-way contest but now holds it as an independent. He beat Manogaran by a slim majority of 462 votes.
“Suresh is very aware of the fact that in the bigger scheme of things, it will come down to BN or Pakatan Harapan. He must make a decision as to who he will end up helping,” said Manogaran.
“Suresh might end up taking away potential votes from Pakatan or he can also campaign to take away votes from BN to help Pakatan. He needs to decide.”
Manogaran claimed PSM would have problems in Cameron Highlands because it could not win the support of the Malays and Chinese.
“The Malays and Chinese make up about 65% of the voters in Cameron Highlands and DAP can win the bulk of those votes, especially if Suresh chooses to work with us instead of against us.”
Manogaran said he believed DAP stood a better chance to get the support of the Malays based on the votes the party obtained in Kampung Keledek – a Malay-majority polling district – in the last general election.
In that election, DAP garnered 369 votes in Kampung Keledek compared to BN’s 359.
Manogaran said he understood that some in his and Suresh’s respective parties had issues with each other but these issues should not prevent them from helping each other.
“I have no problems with Suresh and I believe Suresh has no problems with me. There’s no reason why – together – we can’t save Cameron Highlands from BN.”