Kuala Lumpur, Sep 7 Two members of the Punjabi community are, for the first time, on Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) chief S. Samy Vellu's list of nominees for the organisation's poll next Saturday.

Samy Vellu has sought to widen his base in the Tamil-dominated party by including on his list J. Randhir Singh from Johor state and G. Jaspal Singh from Selangor.

If elected, the two will be the only Punjabis in the party's decision making body after K.S. Nijhar, who was the party vice-president until last year when he resigned abruptly, New Straits Times said on Monday.

It quoted an unnamed party insider to say that one of the two was being groomed by Vellu to fill the vacancy left by Nijhar.

"But it will be an uphill task since both are newcomers and are going for the same allocation. And there are only a few north Indian delegates," he said.

Vellu allocates one position in the party's committee to appease the Punjabi community and to get its support, the party official said.

Malaysia has an estimated 100,000 Sikhs. The two million Indian diaspora, however, is predominantly of Tamils who settled here during the British era.

Both the Punjabi candidates have worked in the MIC at the state level.

Randhir Singh is leveraging on his father's popularity. His father, Jasbir Singh, has been the Pontian division chairman for the past 45 years and has won uncontested five times.

Randhir has made sure a photograph of his father and him have appeared in all three Tamil dailies over the last three days. Accompanying the picture is an appeal to the delegates to vote for him.

"I am using the picture with my father because many people recognise my father for his long service to the party.

"I want to tell them that I am the second generation who will continue what he has been doing for the community," said Randhir Singh who has been a MIC member for 26 years.

Being a non-Tamil speaking candidate in a predominantly Tamil speaking party is a non-issue, as far as he is concerned.

"My father doesn't speak Tamil either and he has been division chairman for 45 years. Language is not a barrier.

"What is important is your ability and willingness to work for the betterment of the community," said Randhir Singh.

MIC is Malaysia's oldest party that speaks for the ethnic Indians. As part of the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN), it has representation in the government at the federal and state levels.