The Bukit Selambau state seat will certainly go into electoral history when 15 candidates were confirmed to be contesting for the seat come polling day on April 7.

What makes this contest even more interesting is that there are 13 confident independent aspirants battling side by side with bigwigs from Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.

bukit selambau nomination day pkr candidate and crowd 290309 06 The fiery energy emanating from supporters of the various political factions heated the modest town of Sungai Petani as thousands of supporters representing BN and Pakatan marched alongside their candidates while chanting slogans supporting them.

The Barisan team of over 3,000 adorned in white and blue party uniforms marched almost 2.5km carrying MIC and Umno flags from Sungai Lalang to the nomination centre.

When the coalition top guns lead by newly-elected Umno vice-president Hishammuddin Hussein and MIC party head S Samy Vellu joined the party, high energy had taken over with the supporters shouting 'Hidup BN, hidup Najib'.

bukit selambau nomination day vips samy vellu hishammuddin shahrizat azmin ali 290309 01 “Most of the independent candidates are former PKR men who are very unhappy with PKR's choice of candidate,” said Samy Vellu.

Asked whether the record number of independents would hamper BN's chances, Samy Vellu said: “We have been campaigning for 18 days now and there have been changes from the first day to the 17th day... from my perspective our chances are good.”

Local Indians dislike MIC

For the BN's candidate S Ganesan, a win would be a referendum on the MIC’s re-branding exercise started after the party's record poor performance in the general election last year.

bukit selambau nomination day pkr candidate and crowd 290309 02 MCA deputy president, Chua Soi Lek, feels that the number of independent candidates could affect PKR's chances, but he also said the sentiments of the local Indian community against MIC can be damaging to BN too.

No untoward incidents took place throughout the day except for an incident when a man from the PKR camp approached Samy Vellu and verbally abused him.

Angry MIC supporters rushed at the man but police intervened to calm the situation. [Watch video]

bukit selambau nomination day vips samy vellu hishammuddin shahrizat azmin ali 290309 02 Security at the nomination centre was beefed up with nearly 850 police and federal reserve unit officers on duty.

Meanwhile, about 5,000 Pakatan supporters, largely from the PKR faction, marched into the nomination area with deafening drums, lion dance and loud cheering together with candidate S Manikumar.

The PKR election machinery lead by Azmin Ali, however remained highly-elated despite being under the scorching sun, hoping to drown out the show of support by the rival BN crowd.

PKR leaders expressed confidence in winning the seat and show no worry on losing votes to the independents.

Pakatan interviewed 18 candidates

Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak told reporters that the Pakatan leaders had interviewed 18 candidates during the selection process and chose the best.

“We can't help it if the independents, some of whom are those we had interviewed, are unhappy with Manikumar,” echoed Azizan.

penang kedah timber logging azizan abdul razak 310708 03 Azizan reiterated that if their candidate S Manikumar wins, he would take over the executive council post vacated by previous incumbent V Arumugam.

Asked whether he would appoint any other candidate who wins, Azizan repeated Pakatan’s famous line: “I will cross the bridge when that happens.”

bukit selambau by election state seat candidates 290309 Azmin also dismissed the threat of the independents by saying that ”the people of Bukit Selambau have been marginalised for the past 50 years, so now they need a strong leader, one who can bring development to the area since the exco post has been reserved for him”.

At a press conference after the nominations were announced, PAS' Saifuddin Nasution Ismail also echoed that Pakatan can win the seat.

“The Kedah government has not done much wrong for the people to punish us, we didn't use state funds to bear the cost of our travels or fund our children's education,” said Saifuddin mocking the scandal involving former Selangor menteri besar Mohd Khir Toyo.

In a rare moment, Pakatan leaders walked over to the BN camp and shook hands with Hishammuddin and Samy Vellu as well as Shahrizat Jalil and Liow Tiong Lai where they agreed on a clean and violence-free campaign.

PKR had also set up stalls selling various memorabilia and tokens such as embellished badges and T-shirts with Pakatan Rakyat and PKR slogans and the much popular stalls selling food and drinks to the thirsty and hungry crowd.

Independents not ready to admit defeat

The number '13' might be a superstitious number but for the independent candidates of Bukit Selambau they are not yet ready to admit defeat.

Although the independents do not have a large number of supporters compared to the BN or PKR candidates, they bravely endured the day confidently speaking to reporters of their hopes and what they can do if they win the seat.

bukit selambau nomination day pkr candidate and crowd 290309 04 Supporters of candidates, businessman Husaini Yaacob and former Kedah PPP Wanita chief L Sarala, were amongst those who were carrying large banners and placards in support of their leaders.

At noon, returning officer Abdullah Mat Akhir announced that there were nine objections. However, they were rejected and he confirmed that all 15 candidates are in the running for the state seat.

He also said Manikumar would be campaigning under the PKR flag and Ganesan would be running under the BN symbol.

The 13 independents would be campaigning under various symbols including a tiger head, a bicycle, a rooster, a bas, an umbrella, an alarm clock, a telephone, an aeroplane, a book, a key, oil palm, a chair and a fish.

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