Ramanan asked if he could still be accused of neglecting the Indians when more than RM500 million had been channelled to the community through the entrepreneur development and cooperatives ministry, where he is the deputy minister.

“I hope he can teach me what it means to not ignore the non-Malays,” the Sungai Buloh MP said after chairing an Indian Community Initiative Implementation Committee meeting today.

He also questioned Santiago’s record as an MP, and insisted that the community has been receiving greater benefits under the present administration.

He said nearly RM1 billion had been distributed through Sumbangan Tunai Rahmah (STR) and Sumbangan Asas Rahmah (SARA) cash aid programmes.

“Assistance for Tamil schools also reached close to RM1 billion with more than 400 schools benefitting from this initiative,” he said.

On Monday, Santiago said Ramanan’s view that the government’s Madani vision had forced Perikatan Nasional to expand its focus towards non-Malay voters was a misdiagnosis, which could lead to the wrong solution being produced as the next general election approaches.

He said the reason PN was reaching out to non-Malay voters was that “PAS and PN can smell Putrajaya now”.