Since former Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson V Arumugam tendered his resignation after being in office for less than a year, the town has turned into an electoral battlefield between Pakatan Rakyat and BN.

Arumugam’s performance in office will play an important part in determining whether the residents of Bukit Selambau will want to restore Pakatan’s mandate in the by-election.

Arumugam Vengatarakoo pkr kedah Therefore, it will be a bad omen to Pakatan since a sizeable number of residents have remarked that Arumugam have failed to harness the resources provided to him by the Pakatan state government to bring development to the state constituency.

Arumugam beat S Krishnan from MIC during the March 8 general election with a 2,415 majority as an independent candidate, but agreed to join PKR after being assured of a place in the state executive council.

Meanwhile, prospects for Pakatan and BN in the upcoming by-elections have become hot topics in the local coffee shops.

Some of the residents believe that BN’s failure to tackle corruption will hand Pakatan their third by-election victory since the March general election.

They added that the Indian residents, who make up 30 per cent of the local population, will no longer be influenced by BN’s propaganda and throw their support behind Pakatan instead.

Others also expressed disgust at Najib’s political manoeuvring in Perak, and regarded defector Hee Yit Fong as a symbol of betrayal.

One resident remarked that even if a Pakatan candidate wins the by-election, no one could say for certain whether he or she would not defect to BN one day.

Generous Arumugam

On the other hand, residents who predict a BN triumph commented that the local dispute over the setting up of a pig farm, lingering poverty, lack of educational services and infrastructure and other problems unsolved during Arumugam’s dismal tenure have affected their confidence in Pakatan.

bukit selambau 120209 road sign Others added that prior to March 8, Bukit Selambau has always been a BN stronghold, and that it will not be easy to curb BN’s dominance in the constituency.

When Malaysiakini reporters arrived at Arumugam’s service centre yesterday, it was found to be operating as usual.

Chewan Rozita, Arumugam’s secretary and sole employee at the service centre, stated that she was employed last July but had stopped working at the end of the year.

She added that she was contacted by Arumugam again on Feb 1, and was requested to resume her work at the service centre on Feb 2 before he resigned unexpectedly on Feb 4.

“I had sought PKR leaders on Arumugam’s whereabouts, but I was merely told that they had lost contact with him.

“Recently, residents have lodge complaints regarding the lack of streetlights, but now that their state assemblyperson has vanished, no solutions remain to be seen,” said Chewan.

However, she maintains that even though residents rarely sought Arumugam’s help, he had always been generous in his contributions, including presenting bicycles and donations to poor residents during festive celebrations, and personally visiting flood victims.

Meanwhile, Merbok MP Rashid Din has offered to pay Chewan’s salary He pleaded with her to continue her work at the service centre. This will ensure that PKR’s presence and service to the locals will not be affected by Arumugam’s disappearance.

One of the local PAS leaders, Abdul Rahman, has also indicated that the party will hold a political ceramah on Feb 14 to garner support for Pakatan.