DAP’s Arul Kumar bullish on retaining Nilai without BN

 The three-term assemblyman expects a smaller majority as race-based campaigning intensifies, but says PH proved in GE15 it did not need BN to win.

Pakatan Harapan’s J Arul Kumar has represented the Nilai state seat in Negeri Sembilan since 2013.

SEREMBAN:

DAP’s J Arul Kumar is confident that Pakatan Harapan can retain the Nilai state seat in the Aug 1 Negeri Sembilan election without Barisan Nasional’s support, arguing that PH had shown it could win the seat on its own before the two became allies.

Arul claimed that in the 2022 general election, PH won nearly 10,000 votes from polling districts within Nilai, which helped DAP secretary-general Loke Siew Fook retain the Seremban parliamentary seat.

“If you look back, we were with BN only in the 2023 state election, when we won by a majority of more than 10,900 votes,” he told FMT.

“But seven months earlier, during the general election, if you look at the Nilai state seat alone, we won by almost 10,000 votes. At that time, we did not have BN’s support. It was a three-cornered contest (in Seremban).”

Nilai is a mixed seat with Malay voters making up 46.4% of the electorate, followed by Chinese (30%) and Indians (20.8%). It falls within the Seremban parliamentary constituency represented by Loke since 2013.

The seat has been held by PH-DAP since 2008, when it wrested it from BN-MCA.

Arul, who has been the Nilai assemblyman since 2013, retained the seat in the 2023 state election with a 10,889-vote majority in a straight fight against Perikatan Nasional, when PH and BN contested as allies.

This time, BN is cooperating with the PAS-led PN, while PH is contesting all 36 state seats alone. Bersatu, which has broken away from PN, will be contesting 24 seats under its own logo.

The changes have set up a five-cornered contest, with Arul facing BN’s Lai Chien Kong, Bersatu’s V Saravan Kumar, Berjasa’s Zamani Ibrahim, and independent Omar Isa.

Arul acknowledged that the contest would be tighter this time, saying that race-based narratives during the campaign could eat into his winning majority.

He said such narratives remained the biggest challenge in the polls, but he believed that Nilai voters would judge PH on its record in government rather than on ethnic lines.

He also said his track record should justify another term, citing infrastructure upgrades, road connectivity and flood mitigation as among his biggest achievements over three terms.

These included drainage improvements in Nilai town, a RM3.9 million retention pond upgrade, and the Sungai Batang Labu flood mitigation project, which would address the area’s long-standing flooding problems.

Asked about DAP’s setbacks in the recent Sabah and Johor state elections, Arul said Negeri Sembilan’s circumstances were different because PH was the incumbent administration seeking to defend its record, not challenge one.

“Johor had its own factors. Sabah also had its own sentiments. Negeri Sembilan is different because we are the government,” he said.

“We have brought development to Nilai, Seremban and the whole of Negeri Sembilan. The state’s performance is better than under the previous BN administration, whether in revenue collection, cash reserves, initiatives for the people, investment, or job opportunities.” - FMT