KUALA LUMPUR: MIC vice-president Tan Sri K.S. Nijhar has resigned after a heated row two weeks ago with party chief Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.

A senior MIC official confirmed that Nijhar, the highest ranking Sikh in the party, had submitted his resignation and that an official announcement would be made today.

Nijhar, when contacted, declined to comment but said the party would make an announcement on the matter.

The former Subang member of parliament's decision to quit the party comes on the heels of an argument with Samy Vellu during the MIC central working committee meeting on May 15.

Reporters waiting outside the room saw a visibly upset Nijhar storming out, slamming the door behind him after shouting: "I never knew you to be such a cruel man. How can you simply sack a man?"

It was later learnt that Nijhar was upset with the expulsion of former Kapar division chairman S. Subramaniam, better known as Jumbo Maniam.

Meanwhile, a source close to Nijhar said his resignation was not linked to the incident but to make way for new blood.

"He had to go sooner or later to give way for new blood and decided to call it a day,' said the source, who did not say why Nijhar had chosen to quit mid-term.