The plethora of three-cornered clashes in Selangor for the forthcoming polls outlines, at the very least, an unwanted and unexpected development that can play out either way for both incumbents and challengers.

For starters, three independent candidates are contesting at Kota Raja, Seri Andalas and Sri Muda (formerly Kota Raja). The first is a parliamentary seat with the other two as its new state seats.

The three independent candidates happen to be Indian Malaysians. Nothing unusual there but consider this: Also standing for two of the three seats are MIC Youth chief S Vigneswaran (Kota Raja), a first-timer, and incumbent Kamala Ganapathy (Seri Andalas). Umno's Amzah Umar is standing at Sri Muda.

The question to ask is whether this is one coincidence too many?

Could independent T Krisnasamy, who is contesting both the Kota Raja parliamentary and Sri Muda state seat, and independent MP Pupalan (Seri Andalas), be the 'Subramaniam spoilers'?

Opposition observers attribute this phenomenon to the direct fallout of MIC president S Samy Vellu's 'merciless act' of dropping his deputy S. Subramaniam from the party's line-up for the coming polls.

"Now, Subramaniam's people are trying to get even with Samy Vellu by spoiling whatever chances the MIC has of winning in those seats," says an observer.

The votes at those three seats can now swing in favour of either the BN or the opposition, depending on the votes the independents garner.

Four-way fight, too

Elsewhere in the state, when nominations closed yesterday afternoon, a total of 27 contenders for two parliamentary and seven state constituencies were lined up for three-cornered or more battles.

Many seats have opposition colleagues battling each other in what can only be a losing strategy for increasing opposition presence in Parliament and state assemblies.

The Taman Medan state seat will see plenty enough action with a four-cornered face-off between BN's Abdul Wahab Ibrahim, PAS' Ghazali Shaari, Keadilan's Wan Razali Wan Kadir and Independent candidate Kamarul Jaman Seeni Mohideen.

In 1999, BN's Norkhaila Jamaluddin won the seat by over 3,000 votes but she has been dropped possibly due to the inflammatory remarks she made during the 2001 racial clashes in several squatter colonies along Jalan Kelang Lama.

The opposition stronghold of Hulu Kelang sees another three-cornered fight with Keadilan's secretary-general Dr Abdul Rahman Othman at the front line fending off challenges from BN's Ahmad Bujang and independent candidate, Ahmad Rahmat.

Keadilan won the seat in 1999 when its vice-president Mohamed Azmin Ali secured a majority of 1,146 votes.

The battle for Puchong, a new seat of predominantly civil servants and businessmen, will pit BN's Lau Yeng Peng against PAS' Dr Azmi Jamion and DAP's Wong Choong Yun.

Observers note that it will be interesting to see how the votes in this multiethnic, urban, middle-class electorate tally-up.

Pathetic solidarity

The rural and suburban state seats of Ijok, Seri Serdang and Dengkil will also see three-cornered fights.

Ijok incumbent BN's A. Sivalingam is defending his seat against Keadilan's Abdul Rahman Moharam and independent candidate, Mohamed Sharif Nagoorkani. He won in 1999 by more than 3,000 votes.

In Dengkil, a new BN face, Suhaimi Ghazali (replacing incumbent Mohd Shariff Jajang), will try to retain the semi-rural seat against PAS' Mohd Haslim Hassan and Keadilan's Husin Dahlan.

The previous majority in this Chinese-minority seat was close to 2,000 votes.

As for Seri Serdang, BN's incumbent Mohd Satim Diman will attempt a repeat of his past victory in this new constituency against Keadilan's Yaakob Sapari and independent candidate, Mazli Mansor.

For now, the BN's chances look good in the three-cornered fights, partly thanks to the opposition.

Maybe, just maybe, could the Barisan Alternatif partners themselves be the actual spoilers?