Kuala Lumpur, Sep 19 (ANI): Rejecting former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's demand to immediately step down as the Malaysian Indian Congress Chief, S. Samy Vellu has said that he would stick to his original plan and resign in 2012.

"He (Prime Minister Najib Razak) is aware of my retirement plan. I will keep to my word to the prime minister and I will not change (my plan)," the New Strait Times Online quoted him, as saying.Earlier, Dr Mohamad had warned that Samy Vellu would become a liability to the Barisan Nasional in the next general election since his leadership has failed.Mohamad suggested that Samy Vellu should step down and take responsibility for the party's failure in the last general election. Reacting to Dr Mohamad's statement, Samy Vellu said the former prime minister who is now calling him a liability had labelled him an asset "when we were winning.""His comments are like telling a young wife that she is beautiful and an asset, but when she becomes old, she is branded a liability," he said.

"I am not at all surprised. But I think he refuses to understand that the BN losses in the last general election were not because of me. An experienced man (politician) like him should understand that," he added.MIC vice-president Dr S. Subramaniam said the leadership of any political party was decided by its members, and it should be respected by the other BN component parties. "The members decide whether to give or withdraw the mandate and if a decision is made by the members, it should be respected by the other BN component parties.

It will be better if all BN leaders avoided commenting about other parties," said Subramaniam. (ANI)