"Jeyakumar, who is being flooded with congratulatory messages from all
over the country, also revealed that he had received several death
threats."

"We are concerned and are taking the necessary precautions," he said.

From: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/79530

Samy's conqueror: It feels great! RK Anand | Mar 10, 08 4:02am

A 'confluence of forces' had made it possible to defeat MIC president S
Samy Vellu in his stronghold, said his victor Dr D Jeyakumar.

On Saturday, the 53-year-old physician staged a major upset by knocking
out the 72-year-old politician on his birthday in the contest for the
Sungai Siput parliamentary seat - which the latter held since 1974.

Asked how this felt, Jeyakumar replied: "It feels great!"

The Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader who stood under the PKR banner
had contested against the MIC president and former works minister on two
previous occasions.

This time around, Jeyakumar conceded that his opponent, whom he regards
as formidable, had been weakened by other factors.

The PSM pro-tem central committee member also admitted that he did not
expect to win. "We cannot take full credit for everything," he told
Malaysiakini yesterday.

"We went in as the underdog but his (Samy Vellu) credibility had eroded
terribly among the Indian voters," he said.

The MIC president's influence in the Indian community had waned in the
wake of the Nov 25 rally organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force
(Hindraf).

Low-key campaign

Jeyakumar also acknowledged that Samy Vellu's campaign this time around
was rather low key compared to the previous elections.

He said apart from the Hindraf factor, the work PSM had done on the
ground in the constituency over the past decade as well as the hard work
of the volunteers also contributed to his victory.

On top of that, he said the strong DAP candidate for the state seat and
the cooperation from PAS also helped.

"The swing against BN (Barisan Nasional) was stronger than anticipated.
BN has been taking the people for granted," said the PSM leader who saw
an increase of support among all three races.

Jeyakumar, who is being flooded with congratulatory messages from all
over the country, also revealed that he had received several death
threats.

"We are concerned and are taking the necessary precautions," he said.

'We went all out'

On his plans for this term, Jeyakumar, who is still settling into his
new role as a parliamentarian, replied: "I intend to bring the problems
faced by the common man to Parliament."

"This elections has shown that ideology is still relevant," he added.

His wife and campaign manager R Rani said she was "delighted and
overwhelmed" by the victory in what she described as "not an easy seat
to win" due to the alleged underhand tactics employed by their rival.

However, the PSM pro-tem central committee member said that during the
course of the campaign, there were positive vibes from all the races
indicating the possibility of upstaging the incumbent.

"He (Samy Vellu) never expected to lose just like how we never expected
to win," said Rani, adding that PSM "went all out" this time around.

Jeyakumar had defeated Samy Vellu with a 1,821 majority. In the 2004
polls, he lost to the MIC president by more than 10,000 votes.