Independents vow to put up a good fight

As the deadline to withdraw passed at midnight yesterday, all 13 independent candidates - a new record by itself - stood firm in their stand to contest for the Bukit Selambau by-election next Tuesday

They are very determined to fight it out, using their own resources, with high hopes of creating an upset to win the seat from established political parties.

After all, in the last general election, V Arumugam won the seat as an independent. He then joined PKR and was made a state exco, before resigning in February.

His blueprint to success, except for his resignation, is what the independents want to follow now.

When contacted by Malaysiakini on how their campaigns were going so far, five independent candidates said that they were running their campaign on a tight budget but were nevertheless confident of winning.

The big guns whom they aim to defeat are BN's S Ganesan and PKR's S Manikumar.

Ganesan is an experienced politician, being a state MIC leader and a one-term Lunas state assemblyperson who was dropped in the last general election.

Manikumar, on the other hand, is a greenhorn but has the advantage of being a candidate for a party who shares the administration of the state.

And with no one withdrawing from the contest, the voters in Bukit Selambau are also set to face a new type of polling paper - one which is bigger than the standard A4 size to accommodate the names of all 15 candidates.

So everything is now set for a battle galore on April 7.

However, from the way some of the independents are campaigning, one does get a feeling that some of them are only out to promote themselves.

An umbrella to shelter of all

One independent candidate who think he can beat the odd is former PKR member A Jayagopal, whose election symbol is an umbrella.

He stressed that he would not back down from contesting on any condition and vowed to stick to his principle "no matter if it rains or shines".

"I have good ground support and people will vote for me because of my M akkal Sakthi (referring to members of the Hindu Right Action Force) connections," said Jayagopal.

"If I win, my main concentration will be to focus on the laid-off estate workers. I will work to get them several hectares of land so that they can get involved in agriculture and farming," he said.

The 56-year-old also claimed he was amongst those who were interviewed by the state government before PKR decided to cast newby Manikumar.

And he is bitter with that. He is upset that Manikumar was Anwar's choice, and not the state party's.

"PKR has a committee dealing with Indian affair, and if the exco post is promised to an Indian, that committee should be given the right to choose the candidate," he chidded.

Nevertheless, Jayagopal said he is contesting to show them who is the best man for the job. He added that he is not putting Manikumar down but instead criticising the party leadership which needs to be reformed.

A budget campaign

As for 43-year-old electric and plumbing contractor R Loganathan, his struggle is to bring "some difference for my community".

Malaysiakini caught up with him while he was busy directing his campaign workers to hang his banners.

"I want to bring about a better social and economic change as well as to serve the people in working towards building better infrastructures, valuable health plans and wholesome education," said Loganathan, whose vote symbol is the all useful oil palm tree.

Moreover, Loganathan, revealed that he is not bothered in going on the ground with large loudspeakers to convey his message to the people.

This is not just because he has budget contraints but also because people are not interested in such an approach.

"My strategy is to move from house to house and to personally approach individuals," said Loganathan.

Insurance coverage for all

T Chadrarajan, who is the group manager of Etiqa Insurance and Takaful, has made an unique offer in his manifesto to offer 10 percent off for vehicle insurances to those who are registered under his company.

And that is not all as he has also pledged to provide death coverage of RM2,000 through the same company to voters of Bukit Selambau, if he is voted in as the state representative.

He also aspires to convert the rural Bukit Selambau into a tourist hub by developing homestay and chalets as well as by introducing the local fine arts and delights.

Chandrarajan told Malaysiakini the response he received from people has been encouraging.

His banners and posters were also spotted in almost everywhere there are banners of BN and PKR.

This businessman is confident of winning too, failing which, his pre-election pledges will be a boost for his insurance business.

Too many banner aren't good

Businessman Mohd Fadzil Wahad, on the other hand, felt that his task was to get directly into the hearts of the people rather than through banners and posters.

"The voters of Bukit Selambau know my symbol is the head of a tiger and they will vote for me," he said.

"Yesterday, I went to the village and met with the voters. I have explained my manifesto," he said, adding that he considered all the candidates to be worthy.

Mohd Fadzil said he will meet with voters in the urban area soon, but doubts he would be able to organise any ceramahs.

"On Friday I will try for the permit... I think I can definitely win 70 percent of the votes cast.

"If I do win, I will struggle for all communities no matter if they are from the Malay, Indian, Chinese or Thai community," he said.

"My manifesto is to struggle for unity, the most important for all Malaysians... if there is no unity, there would not be understanding and therefore, no progress," he added.

Environmental-friendly candidate, cycles for votes

Of all 15 candidates vying for the state seat, there is only one woman and she is regularly seen cycling around the area canvassing for support.

Former PPP leader L Sarala dismissed any suggestions that she could be overwhelmed by her male competitors or those backed by bigger parties.

"For the past four days I have been out there... and the response is good and I have many supporters," said the former PPP Kedah Wanita chief.

Sarala also took the opportunity to rebut claims that the 13 independents were stooges of BN as claimed by PKR MP N Gobalakrisnan in Tamil dailies.

"He must apologise or show evidence that we have received bribes from the BN to contest... I am doing it on my own and whatever happens, I will continue to fight," she said, whose symbol is a bicycle.

Sarala said that she was contesting because she lost all faith in BN and PKR candidates.

Apart from these five candidates, the others are also equally confident of doing well in the by-election. The voters in Bukit Selambau are spoilt for choice on who should get their votes.

With four more days to go before polling, Bukit Selambau voters have the unenviable task of choosing the person who should be representing them in the state assembly.