He served as Deputy Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs from 1995 to 2004, Parliamentary Secretary of International Trade and Industry from 1991 to 1995 and Parliamentary Secretary of Labour and Manpower from 1974 to 1978 in the BN administration under former Prime Ministers Hussein Onn, Mahathir Mohamad and Abdullah Ahmad Badawi as well as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Segamat from 1982 to 2004 and Damansara from 1974 to 1982.
This was the time when Subramaniam, K. Pathmanaban, a Harvard MBA holder, and several others entered the political arena to infuse new blood into MIC, and Manickavasagam gave them preference.
According to Samy Vellu, Subramaniam has enjoyed his time as a Member of Parliament, parliamentary secretary, and deputy minister, citing "now it was the turn of others to taste such fame.
[2] Many branch members agreed that the next man who can save the party is Dato Subra but the problem arose when the present president is not vacating the post.
Some political analyst believe that Sothinathan was planted by Samy Velu to split Dato Subra vote and gain easy win for Palanivel.
Officials said about 900 shareholders including Subramaniam, Samy Vellu and Democratic Action Party member of Parliament M. Kulasegaran attended the Maika (MIC's debt-ridden investment arm) annual general meeting, the first time that such a huge number had turned up in the company's history.
Despite the heated exchanges, the meeting went on smoothly, with Abdul Rashid replying to the questions put forward by the various shareholders including DAP's Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran.
At about 1pm, the shareholders were asked to vote on the various resolutions including one calling for the sale of the insurance company Oriental Capital Assurance Berhad (OCAB) for RM129.8 million.
Maika's management claimed that the sale of OCAB would enable the company to clear its outstanding debts and repay the shareholders who wanted to withdraw their investments.
He said he was not opposed to the sale of OCAB but Maika should give the first option to an Indian community-linked company or cooperative so that its majority stake would remain in the community's hands.