The DAP today laid to rest all speculation and confirmed Ramkarpal Singh as the candidate for Bukit  Gelugor.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng made the announcement at the party's Bukit Gelugor operations centre along Jalan Greenland today.

Ramkarpal, 38, a lawyer by profession, is the third son of the late Karpal Singh, the former Bukit Gelugor MP, who died in a tragic car crash near Gua Tempurung, Perak along the North-South Highway on April 17.

Karpal, who was then the party's national chairperson, had won the seat three times since 2004.

Ramkarpal will be contesting against Parti Cinta Malaysia vice-president Huan Cheng Guan and independent candidates Yacoob Mohd Noor and Mohamed Nabi Bux, all of  whom have announced their candidacy.

Mohamed Nabi , who claims to be a PAS member from Selangor, said he wants to contest regardless of whether his party, that appears to be in the dark over his move, supports it.

The yet-to-be registered Penang Front Party, a coalition of 44 groups that has declared war on the DAP and said it will run for the seat, has yet to name its candidate.

MCA still mum

MCA, which contested for the urban seat in the May 5 general elections last year, is still mulling whether or not to do so again. (This afternoon, the party announced that it has opted out of the contest.)

Its 2013 candidate Teh Beng Yeam lost massively to Karpal by a 41,778 margin, bagging only 14,061 votes.

Nomination day is Monday at the Dewan Sri Penang, while polling is on May 25.  

There are 17 polling centres and 139 channels for ordinary voting and four for early balloting.

As at April 17, the parliamentary seat covering 28sq km - comprising the state seats of Paya Terubong, Air  Itam and Seri Delima, all held by the DAP - has a total of 82,431 registered voters.

In his maiden speech as a candidate, Ramkarpal said he hopes, with the support of everyone, DAP can win the seat with a bigger majority.

He thanked all his supporters and the DAP for giving him an opportunity to contest the Bukit Gelugor seat, left vacant by his father's untimely death.

"I want to particularly thank all those who work behind the scenes, especially state DAP secretary Lim Hooi Ying, for making this moment possible," he said.

Ramkarpal, together with other DAP leaders, subsequently launched the operations centre by releasing dozens of balloons.

They later celebrated Karpal's wife, Gurmit Kaur's birthday, by cutting a cake and blowing of candles.

Other Pakatan leaders present were PAS deputy chief Mohamed Sabu, PKR state chief Mansor Othman, DAP senior leader Lim Kit Siang and the party's acting national chief Tan Kok Wai.

Best candidate

During his announcement speech, Guan Eng said Ramkarpal was the best candidate and “he happens to be Karpal's son”.

"We hope he will show the Bukit Gelugor people that he is a worthy member of parliament," Guan Eng.

Earlier, Lim told the expectant crowd: "We are Penang people, even if you beat us, we won't die - true or not?"

He said BN will play dirty, and up to now the coalition has yet to reveal whether it will contest the seat.

"We know they will surely put up a candidate. They are playing, but we are informing everyone that we are not ... main-main," he said.

"This is a battle we must win and win convincingly, but it will not be easy," he added.

"Karpal used to say, the fight is as important as the outcome. We must do our best in this battle.”

Ramkarpal says he was not pressured to contest