Kohilan, who is the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Batu parliamentary seat, said he would be speaking to MCA leaders on the matter.

It was previously reported that Batu MCA had shut down its operations room to protest Kohilan’s candidacy.

Kohilan said he did not agree with Batu MCA’s actions but maintained that every “family” would have disputes, with some people acting out once in a while.

“These are not good actions but we are family. We will settle it.

“It’s a temporary matter, a storm in a teacup,” the MIC vice-president told reporters after submitting his nomination papers.

On Wednesday, MCA president Wee Ka Siong said his party would be contesting the Batu seat instead of MIC, following discussions with BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Wee said it had been agreed that MCA would field a candidate in Batu after the party had “handed” the Padang Serai seat to MIC. The party was set to field MCA vice-president Yew Teong Look.

However, MIC party president SA Vigneswaran contradicted Wee, maintaining that MIC would be contesting the Batu seat. “That’s it. No swaps,” he had said.

In protest over the decision, Yew reportedly ordered Batu MCA to shut down its election operations room.

According to Sin Chew Daily, Yew was unhappy with BN’s decision to change its candidate for the seat within just two days, when he was supposed to stand in Batu.