Chandran to pull out of Hulu Selangor vote

By G. Manimaran

Bahasa Malaysia Editor

HULU SELANGOR, April 19 — The Hulu Selangor by-election will be reduced to a three-cornered fight today when candidate V.S. Chandran as expected announces his withdrawal from the contest.

The former Hulu Selangor MIC deputy chief is due to inform the Election Commission (EC) of his decision this morning, before the withdrawal deadline ends midnight today. Polling is on April 25.

Chandran is due to meet reporters after going to the EC, according to a text message received by The Malaysian Insider.

But efforts to get Chandran to confirm the news failed as he is not picking up his phone despite his camp confirming his withdrawal.

“Yes, Chandran has decided to withdraw from contesting due to certain reasons,” a source told The Malaysian Insider late last night.

It is understood Chandran took the step to prevent the Indian vote, especially from MIC members, from splitting and affecting the chances of Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, party information chief P. Kamalanathan.

Others contesting the federal seat are PKR’s Datuk Zaid Ibrahim and another independent, Johan Md Diah who still faces the possibility of the sack from his party, Umno for joining the fray.

Chandran, who faces a similar scenario from MIC, is said to command support from the party’s local division. The Indians form 19.3 per cent of the 64,500 voters in Hulu Selangor.

“He (Chandran) is just angry at MIC, but his heart still loves Barisan Nasional. He has himself said he strongly supports Barisan and it’s because of that love, he will pull out,” the source said.

A straw poll by The Malaysian Insider showed a section of MIC members are still disappointed with BN’s decision to drop party deputy president Datuk G. Palanivel from contesting the seat he had held for four terms until Election 2008.

They have said they will not vote for the BN choice, making it difficult for the ruling coalition to overturn the 198-vote loss by Palanivel to PKR MP Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad whose death triggered the by-election.

The main fight remains between the 44-year-old Kamalanathan, who is seen as a compromise candidate, and Zaid, who was sacked from Umno after he quit as a minister in the Abdullah administration in 2008.