The poser over the candidate for the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat by-election on April 25 seems to occupy the thoughts of the grassroots in the area.

It is also a hot topic among the locals since the Election Commission announced the seat to be vacant following the death of the incumbent MP Zainal Abidin Ahmad from brain cancer on March 25.

The 2008 general election saw Zainal Abidin, from PKR, defeating MIC deputy president G Palanivel, who had represented the constituency since 1990, by a slim majority of 198 votes.

It was a shocking result as all the three state seats - Ulu Bernam, Batang Kali and Kuala Kubu Bharu - in the parliamentary constituency were won by BN.

If previously the question revolved around whether the candidacy for the seat should remain with the MIC or given to Umno instead, it is now about who will be representing the MIC or BN.

This follows the early indications given by the party leadership.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, who is also Umno deputy president, was reported to have said that the candidacy for the Hulu Selangor seat might be retained by MIC although there was lobbying for an Umno candidate to be fielded.

Palanivel is optimistic that the status quo will remain.

"This is traditionally an MIC seat and moreover it has a mixed electorate, so there should be no change," said Palanivel who has placed his full trust in Prime Minister and BN chairman Najib Abdul Razak to choose a suitable candidate for the by-election.

Almost 53 per cent or 34,020 of the 64,500 registered voters in Hulu Selangor are Malays, 26.3 per cent or 16,964 Chinese and 19.3 per cent or 12,453 Indians.

When met in Batang Kali, Palanivel confirmed that he was the only one nominated by MIC president S Samy Vellu to contest in the by-election. However, during his visit to Kuala Kubu Baru last Saturday, Najib said he had discussed with various quarters besides the MIC president, on the choice of candidate.

"There are other eligible candidates, but the president had only nominated Palanivel as he had been an elected representative for the area for a long time," said an MIC grassroot leader who did not wish to be identified.

A former journalist, Palanivel is also the Selangor MIC chief and Hulu Selangor division head.

Other names mentioned as a possible candidate are MIC secretary-general S Murugesan, Hulu Selangor MIC division vice-chairman K Balasundram, its Youth head V Mugilan, division committee member K Arunasalam, MIC information chief P Kamalanathan and former party deputy president S Subramaniam who is from the area.

Mugilan and Subramaniam are said to be popular as both are locals, from Kerling Estate and Lima Belas Estate respectively.

The question of who will be the BN candidate for the by-election will be answered on April 15 when Muhyiddin makes the announcement, and the candidate is expected to be the "pulse" for the area to ensure the seat is returned to BN.

For BN's victory, Selangor BN deputy chairman Noh Omar when in Batang Kali recently put it succinctly: "In any struggle, there should only be one voice, so whoever chosen by BN must be unanimously supported".

- Bernama