Kuala Lumpur, Apr. 30 : Indian Progressive Front (IPF) president and former vice-president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) Tan Sri M. G. Pandithan, died at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital here on Wednesday morning. He was 68.

Pandithan was admitted to the hospital following a long illness. His body will be taken back to his home in Serdang at noon today.

Pandithan was also formerly a Member of Parliament for Tapah and parliamentary secretary to the Trade and Industry Ministry.

He leaves behind his wife Jayashree and 21-year-old son Jeyan, who’s studying medicine in the Ukraine.

The funeral will take place on Thursday at 3 p. m. at a venue to be determined.

Pandithan was once considered a protégé of MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu until they fell out in 1988.

The two remained political enemies for nearly 20 years, but made up last year during the Ijok by-election.

Pandithan’s renewed friendship with Samy Vellu led to fears that IPF would be dissolved into or merged with MIC, but last July, Pandithan declared that IPF would not be dissolved as long as “I am alive.” (ANI)