DAP unveils candidates for Bukit Selambau

With two by-elections imminent, one in Perak and one in Kedah, the question on everyone's lips is who will be chosen to contest the ‘hot' seats.

While political parties from both sides of the divide have expressed keen interest in fielding candidates for the Bukit Selambau state seat, Kedah DAP has taken a bold step forward by revealing the three candidates the party feels will do it proud.

The trio was introduced in a press conference yesterday, a clear sign that the party was deadly serious in its bid to ‘reclaim' Bukit Selambau.

The candidates were the party's Lunas branch chairperson S Neelamekan, deputy state chairperson V Gnanaguru and state organising secretary Teoh Teik Guan.

Kedah DAP chairperson Thomas Su said although the party had made way for PKR in the previous election, it is time DAP was given a chance to reclaim the seat.

Su added that DAP had an edge over PKR in that it possessed more suitable candidates with better chances of winning. With non-Malay voters making up 49 percent of the electorate in Bukit Selambau, Su was confident the party stood a strong chance.

Do they have what it takes?

Neelamekan, who has been in DAP for more than 20 years, was one of the candidates picked to contest in the Lunas by-election in 2000. However, he had to eventually make way for a PKR candidate. Gnanaguru, on the other hand, was the candidate for Bukit Selambau before 2008.

Teoh, meanwhile, had contested for the Derga state seat in the previous general elections, along with PKR's Cheung Khai Yan. However, both were beaten by Barisan Nasional's Cheah Soon Hai with a razor-thin majority of 168 votes.

The Bukit Selambau state seat fell vacant after PKR's V Arumugam quit as assemblyperson and state exco on Feb 9. Arumugam had won the seat as an independent last March, beating MIC's S Krishnan with a 2,362 vote majority.