Johor polls: MIC to contest four seats, one seat swapped with Umno - source

 

MIC will contest four seats in the upcoming Johor state election, a party source revealed.

However, one constituency will be swapped with Umno to enable the BN component party to contest in an area with a higher number of Indian voters.

“Johor BN has agreed to allocate four seats to MIC, similar to the offer in the previous state election.

“The seats that will remain with MIC are the Kemelah, Bukit Batu, and Kahang seats,” the source told Malaysiakini.

The source added that Tenggaroh will be given to Umno but did not mention which seat will be provided to MIC in return.

The decision was reached on May 17, at a meeting held by MIC leadership with the Johor BN liaison body, the source said.

BN supporters

Party president SA Vigneswaran and caretaker menteri besar Onn Hafiz Ghazi were both at the meeting.

Malaysiakini has contacted MIC headquarters and Johor BN for comment.

Yesterday, Onn Hafiz confirmed the dissolution of the Johor legislative assembly, paving the way for the 16th state election.

The announcement was made in a special press conference after he received the consent of Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim.

The dissolution ends speculation over the timing of the state polls, which had intensified in recent weeks following indications that the assembly could be dissolved earlier than its scheduled expiry in 2027.

Past election results and party dynamics

In the 2022 Johor state election, MIC contested four seats on the BN ticket. The party won three seats while narrowly losing the fourth.

Former MIC youth chief K Raven Kumar won Tenggaroh for the third time, where 53 percent of voters are Malay and another 21 percent are Indian.

Former MIC youth chief K Raven Kumar

He defeated Perikatan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan, and Pejuang in a four-cornered contest with 10,528 votes and a 1,356 majority.

R Vidyananthan mounted a successful defence in a four-cornered contest, becoming the Kahang assemblyperson for the fourth time by winning 10,486 votes and having 6,698 over his closest competitor.

Meanwhile, MIC Women chief N Saraswati won the Kemelah seat by obtaining 7,518 votes with a majority of 1,611 votes.

However, MIC candidate S Suppayah (9,302 votes) lost in the race for Bukit Batu to Harapan’s Arthur Chiong Sen Sern by a mere 137 votes.

This round of seat allocations is particularly noteworthy considering MIC and Umno’s history of disagreements in recent years.

During the six state elections in 2023, MIC decided not to contest, citing dissatisfaction with the seat distribution formula, which it said did not reflect the party’s contribution to BN.

Last year, PN’s now former chairperson, Muhyiddin Yassin, claimed MIC had applied to join the opposition bloc.

PN later revoked a letter of approval it initially granted to MIC to join the coalition last December. - Mkini