Although four months have passed since a bitter by-election in Ijok, this small town in Selangor continues to retain the highly-charged election atmosphere on the air.

There are no prominent election posters like there were in April. Neither are there any ceramahs. But on the ground, preparations are afoot for a bigger battle for the forthcoming general election, expected to be held early next year.

The incumbent is preparing to stand his ground in a conspicuous manner, the challenger more quietly.

Since by-election victory on April 28, BN's MIC candidate K Parthiban has not taken any breather. Instead he continues to hit on the campaigning trail, aiming for an even bigger victory in the forthcoming poll.

His programmes range from the usual meet-the-people sessions to continued development to the constituency.

He religiously holds his session with the people - or what he termes as ' sembang petang ' (evening talks) - on a weekly basis in the 'black areas' such as Pekan Ijok, which saw a slight swing of votes from BN to the opposition.

And then there are also some infrastructural projects in the pipeline, the big one includes the construction of 1,500 units of low cost houses in three areas in Ijok.

"My election machinery and I are ready for the election anytime. Even if the election is called tomorrow, we are confident we can get a bigger majority of 3,000 or more," Parthiban said confidently during a recent malaysiakini visit to Ijok.

In the gone by-election, BN triumphed with 58 percent of the votes, over its rival PKR's 40 percent, trumping the opposition party with a 1,850 majority amid allegations of vote-buying and phantom voters.

BN's Malay representative

Parthiban's eagerness to retain his seat may also be an effort by the debutante elected representative to put to bed any questions over his candidacy .

In the run-up to the by-election, local Umno leaders had asked for the seat to be contested by a Malay based on their majority in the state seat.

Parthiban however revealed that a consensus had been reached to allow him to contest in the general election to retain the seat.

"Even if there is (plan to field a Malay candidate), it will only be done after the electoral seats redelineation exercise is done, not in the coming general election," he said.

It is believed that following the redelineation, which is expected to carried out in 2011, a new seat near Ijok will be allocated for Umno.

For now, the local Malays have been placated with the appointment of local-born Azmi Bakar as a 'private representative' to the Selangor Menteri Besar Mohd Khir Toyo in Ijok.

This appointment is seen as a strategy for the BN to continue to capture the Malay votes, something which Parthiban found hard to do on his own at the by-election.

"We hardly see Parthiban coming here, maybe he is busy. If we have any issues, we will go to Azmi," said workshop owner Zai Zakaria, pointing to Azmi's house located just a few doors away from his workshop in Bukit Badong, a traditionally PAS area.

Menteri Besar's goodwill

Azmi ( photo ) also has a community centre near Kampung Ijok. It is always swamped by a large crowd every Friday morning, usually there to collect the RM50 worth of necessity items such as rice and cooking oil. An average of 200 poor people benefit from this free handout every week.

"This comes under the allocation from the menteri besar's office. Even people from outside of Ijok are coming to take advantage of this dispensation," said Azmi, who described his job as "to take care of the Malay hearts".

While the Indians seemed to be pleased with "one of our own" and the Malays being taken care of under the menteri besar's good office, the question that remained was on who would the Chinese voters back.

Based on the outcome of the by-election, the Chinese voters here, although pleased with Parthiban's humble approach, are once again likely to decide based on national issues, especially the economy.

"Parthiban is good, but I can't say I will vote BN based on Parthiban. How can he help us when we are facing a series of price hikes and our living cost is increasing?" said a restaurant owner who only wished to be known as Mrs Ong.

PKR's low-profile

While the BN has been pro-active in keeping the momentum in their favour in Ijok, PKR has been comparatively quiet since the by-election, much to the chagrin of its supporters.

"I have not seen any PKR leaders returning after the by-election. The Chinese here are quite supportive of them but the party is not doing anything," said one such fervent supporter Fauziah.

The 59-year-old homemaker from Kampung Ijok, the only polling district which the opposition won during the by-election, however said there were activities organised by local PAS leaders from time to time.

She nevertheless pledged to continue supporting the opposition in the coming general election.

"I don't really care what Parthiban has done," she said.

PKR secretary-general Khalid Ibrahim, who contested for the party in the by-election, defended the criticisms and pointed out that he has been visiting Ijok in a low-profile manner on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

According to him, the party has successfully made inroads into the Indian-majority area of Sungai Darah since the by-election. It has also recruited a number of new members from Ijok.

"We are moving, but not so aggressively," he said in a telephone interview, attributing the low-profile nature due to the requests from local supporters and "disturbance" from a rival party on its activities.

He however stressed that the party would be ready in time for the national poll.

Two nights ago, Khalid launched an election operation centre for the opposition parties in Ijok, while an 'information and consulting centre' will be opened in the small town in a month's time to provide advice on education or entrepreneurship.

Banking on the fence-sitters

Despite his limited presence in Ijok, the former corporate high-flyer however says he has a close grip on what was going on at the place and continues to monitor the government expenditures.

"I know how many cows or goats they (BN) are giving out. They have the money and resources to sponsor football jerseys for 15, 20 teams, what can we do? But I ask our supporters to go get the jerseys too since they are funded with taxpayers' money," he laughed.

Khalid argued that the opposition will have a better chance in the coming election as there would not be a full concentration of government machinery in the tiny constituency like what happened in the by-election.

"I am confident we can maintain not only the same percentage of votes but get a little bit more than that," he said, adding that those who are sympathetic towards the opposition but voted for BN in the by-election will return to the fold.

"They told me 'Tan Sri, (Deputy Prime Minister) Najib (Abdul Razak) stayed here for a whole week during the by-election, malu-lah (it's embarrassing) if we didn't vote them but now we are 'free', we will vote for you next time," the PKR politician asserted.

However one uncertainty remains for Khalid - if he would be given a second chance by the party to contest in his hometown.

"Well, I am not sure yet. The party is still negotiating with other opposition parties (on seats allocation), we shall only announce once it is completed," he said.

Part One: Ijok: 100 days later

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