MIC promises to deliver 20 % of the Indian votes to Barisan Nasional, if a grass root Umno candidate is selected for the Bagan Pinang state seat by-election. This will ensure victory for BN and break the eight straight by-election defeats suffered previously at the hands of Pakatan Rakyat .

m muthupalaniappan mic disciplinary inquiry 200109 02 Former veteran party vice-president M Muthupalaniappan told Malaysiakini that this time around BN must take into account grass roots feedback and a candidate that can work cordially with all the voters.

"BN must not make the same mistake, of selecting the wrong candidates, that it made in the general election and other by-elections without listening to ground realities and suffer a humiliating defeat," he reasoned.

Muthu, who is grass roots MIC leader and state executive member for about 14 years in Negeri Sembilan, claims to have a good rapport with all the three races in the state.

Indian votes to swing away

He claims that he can influence the Indian community to vote for BN this time around provided a good grass root Umno candidate is selected.

However, Muthu's perception that the Indian community votes will swing to BN may be wrong as recent events such as the Kampung Buah Pala incident in Penang and the controversy over the relocation of the Hindu temple in Shah Alam have left a bad taste in the mouths of the Indian community.

The Bagan Pinang state by-election has been called following the death of incumbent assemblyman Azman Mohammad Noor from blood infection, on Friday.

This will be the ninth by-election since last year's general election.

The constituency has about 14,000 voters, of which, Malay voters make up 64 %; Indians, 20.4 %; Chinese, 10.8 % and others, 4.9 %. There are 5,000 postal votes.

Strong grass root support from all races

In the last general election, Azman polled 6,430 votes to defeat PAS candidate Ramli Ismail, with a majority of 2,333 votes.

Bagan Pinang is one of two state seats in the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency held by BN. The other, is Linggi.

Muthu feels that former Negeri Sembilan Mentri Besar Mohd Isa Abdul Samad will make a good candidate for the by-election as his grass root support among the three races, is good.

bukit selambau mahathir campaign visit 060409 02 Mohd Isa, a Tun Dr Mahathir Mohammad ( left) loyalist and Teluk Kemang Umno division chief, has been holding the state chief post for over a decade ever since being ousted from office, due to alleged money politics.

He has also been given the mandate to choose a candidate by Negeri Sembilan liaison and state chief, Mohamad Hasan.

Umno is expected to announce its candidate for the by-elections on Thursday.

Penang Chief Minister and DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has stated that Pakatan Rakyat has only about a 40% winning chance in this by-election, after taking into consideration the postal votes of policemen and soldiers, who have always voted for BN.