KLANG (April 19): The state seat of Seri Andalas may see a six-cornered fight in the May 5 polls.
Incumbent Seri Andalas assemblyman Dr A Xavier Jayakumar said the seat will see not just candidates from MIC and Hindraf, but Parti Kesejahteraan Insan Tanah Air (Kita), Barisan Jemaah Islamiah Se Malaysia (Berjasa) and even an independent are also apparently eager to join in the fray.
Although Jayakumar, who is also PKR Kota Raja division chief, is unperturbed by the amount of competition he faces, he said his main opponent is MIC Youth leader T Mohan.
“Huge resources are being poured into these areas by MIC to get this seat back," he told fz.com.
Jayakumar had defeated MIC’s A Kamala Ganapathy in the 2008 general election, receiving 20,258 ballots against Kamala’s 10,005 votes.
“They’ve been conducting lucky draws during their ceramah,” he said, adding MIC has been dishing out all sorts of goodies, including motorcycles, to residents during its programmes.
However, he said there is a lot of internal politics within MIC which may affect the party’s campaign.
MIC Kota Raja division chief R S Maniam is said to have been campaigning for a long time in the area, hoping to be selected by the party leadership for Seri Andalas or the Kota Raja parliamentary seat.
However, he was not chosen to contest in both constituencies.
The selection of outsiders – Mohan and MIC secretary-general Datuk S Murugesan – to contest in Seri Andalas and Kota Raja respectively has caused discord within the local MIC community.
Mohan and Murugesan would probably have to rely on their own resources to build rapport among locals through the Umno and MCA machinery, which is weak in the area.
Asked about the threat posed by Hindraf de facto leader P Uthayakumar, Jayakumar said he did not see the controversial Indian rights movement leader as one.
According to Jayakumar, the Hindraf leader does not have a strong team to back his campaign. Also, Uthayakumar has not done much to build rapport and garner support from the people there.
“He’s only coming here because I’m Indian, and I’m an exco (state executive councillor), I’m the face for Indians in Selangor politics, so it looks very personal.
“He wants to prove a point that Hindraf has better things in store for Indians so he is trying to bring my downfall as a Pakatan representative,” said Jayakumar.
Jayakumar is confident he has what it takes to win the seat, saying he has the well-oiled PAS machinery to depend on.
He also has done his work to address local concerns such as cleanliness and road upgrades, contrary to allegations made by MIC leaders.
“The most important thing we have done is to getting state government allocation, RM2.5 to RM3 million to upgrade drains to contain greater volume of water in Taman Sentosa,” he said.
The residential area is situated at the mouth of Sungai Aur and is constantly flooded when there is a torrential rain.
“We have enlarged the drains to contain water and slowly release it to river,” said Jayakumar.
He said with the help of Gamuda Bhd, which developed the neighbouring Bandar Botanic, 7.7ha of land allocated for low-cost housing will be converted to a retention pond.
The project is slated to begin next month, he said.
“With the neighbouring pond developed by IOI Group, there will be a total of about 9.7ha for retention ponds. All the main drains will be directed to the pond so that it does not put pressure on the river and there is no backflow of water into people’s houses,” he added.
Seri Andalas is coveted by many Indian leaders as it has one of the highest concentration of Indians in the country – 35% out of its 56,806 voters. Malays make up 39% and Chinese 24%.
As the Malays also make up a significant proportion, Kita, founded by for PKR pro-tem chairman Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, and PAS alternative Berjasa are looking to make a mark in the area.
However, Jayakumar does not see both parties making much inroads, saying their unfamiliarity among voters will be their main weakness.
Jayakumar said he was also expecting an Indian independent candidate in the Seri Andalas state constituency. However, he has yet to find out the identity of the interested contender.
In the history of Malaysia's elections, the highest number of candidates was in the state constituenct of Bukit Selambau, Kedah during the 2009 by-election which saw 15 parties contesting for one seat, including 13 independents.
Finally, PKR's S Manikumar defeated MIC's Datuk S Ganesan by a majority of 2,403 votes.
Manikumar polled 12,632 votes against Ganesan’s 10,229 votes. Mej (Rtd) Anuar Abd Hamid scored the highest votes among the independents, with a total of 528 ballots. - fz.com
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