The MSM ruling party has actively been poaching opposition politicians and close aides ahead of municipal elections that could be held this year.
The move is aimed at eating into the opposition’s electoral stronghold in both rural and urban strongholds. It has already managed to seven known politicians, according to local press reports.
Roshan Seetohul has been a treasurer of the PMSD and has held key positions whenever his party has been in power, including Chairman of Airports of Mauritius. He is currently the President for Outsourcing and Telecommunication Association of Mauritius (OTAM).
Vinay Sobrun (ex-MMM) was also a candidate in constituency no. 6 (Grand-Baie/Poudre-d’Or) twice: in 2010 and 2014. He was not elected.
Atma Bumma joined politics within the MMM. He was a candidate in constituency no. 5 (Triolet/Pamplemousses) in 2014, but was not elected. In 2019, he quit the MMM to join Jean-Claude Barbier’s Patriotic Movement (PM) and was a candidate in constituency no. 8 (Moka/Quartier-Militaire). He was not elected there either. He resigned in 2020.
Prateebah Bholah had first joined MSM. She was elected in 2010 in constituency no. 7 (Piton/Rivière-du-Rempart). A year later, she joined Labour. She has not been elected since the 2014 elections.
Gayatree Dayal, a staunch MMM politician, was defeated in the 2019 legislative elections in constituency no. 15 (La Caverne/Phoenix).
Kamlesh Seechurn and Javed Khadarun are two young politicians who had links with the Labour Party. Seechurn is from Constituency No. 5 while Khadarun is from Constituency No. 8. The latter had sworn an affidavit before the Supreme Court to challenge the election of Pravind Jugnauth in 2019. A year later, he withdrew his petition.
