GE14 | Seven hours after polling began, two-term Sungai Siput incumbent Dr D Michael Jeyakumar believes he might lose the Perak parliamentary seat.

He also said BN could recapture the seat, which was once the stronghold of former MIC president S Samy Vellu due to the split in votes for the opposition.

"If PSM contested against BN alone, we can win.

“But now with PKR and PAS (candidates), it is difficult for us,” he told Malaysiakini when met at his campaign operations room this afternoon.

Jeyakumar said he was disappointed with Pakatan Harapan's “unwise decision” to field a candidate for the seat.

The PSM leader said it was odd that Harapan was willing to back an independent candidate for the Batu parliamentary seat but not someone who had been in parliament for two terms.

Harapan had endorsed 22-year-old law student P Prabakaran after PKR vice-president Tian Chua was disqualified on nomination day on April 28 over a fine imposed in relation to a criminal case.

Jeyakumar stressed that PSM had always stood with the opposition against BN.

“We may disagree based on principles, such as Dr Mahathir Mohamad (leading the opposition) but we also fight against BN,” he stressed.

Jeyakumar also conceded that throughout his campaign, he was often asked why PSM was not with Harapan.

"We explained to the people, but I am not sure whether the people understood and accepted (the reasons).

"People say, 'You are good but why are you not with the opposition and obstructing the road to Putrajaya'," he said.

There is a four-cornered fight for Sungai Siput. Apart from Jeyakumar, the others in the race are MIC deputy president SK Devamany, PKR's S Kesavan and PAS' Ishak Ibrahim.

Jeyakumar had first won the seat in the 2008 polls after a shock win over Samy Vellu.