Johor Polls: MIC fields 3 new faces!

JOHOR BAHRU: In a move widely anticipated within political circles, the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) has been allocated four state assembly seats for the upcoming Johor legislative elections. The party is maintaining the exact same number of contested seats as the 2022 state polls, solidifying its stature as a key component of the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. The four seats are Kemeleh, Bukit Batu, Kahang and Perling.

A major structural shift will result in the Tenggaroh seat being returned to UMNO. Consequently, Raven Kumar Krishnasamy, who contested Tenggaroh in 2022 and currently serves as a Johor State Executive Councillor, will shift to contest the Kemelah seat.

The decision has resulted in the exclusion of Saraswathy Nallathamby, the national leader of MIC’s women’s wing and the incumbent assemblywoman for Kemelah.

Key Electoral Battlegrounds

The shifting dynamics have created space for new representation across the remaining seats:

• Kahang: Incumbent assemblyman and former state executive councillor R. Vidyananthan has been dropped. Instead, MIC has fielded Rugendran Vellayan, the deputy chief of the Johor MIC youth wing, to contest the seat. His father, Dato N. Vellayan (popularly known as Nila Rajah), is the Deputy Chairman of the MIC Johor State Congress. Kahang notably falls under the Sembrong parliamentary constituency, represented by senior UMNO figure Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein as its MP.

• Perling: MIC has introduced Paneer Selvam as the new face candidate for Perling, a seat which has been allocated to MIC for the first time. Panneer Selvam, who currently serves as the chief of the Pulai parliamentary wing. His father, Datuk K.S. Balakrishan, served as the State Secretary and later as the State Chairman for MIC Johor State Congress for Several years. Balakrishan was also the former state assemblyman and EXCO member of Johor.

• Bukit Batu: Following a narrow defeat in Bukit Batu in 2022, MIC is aiming to reclaim the seat by fielding Kumaran Ramakrishnan. Kumaran holds influential dual portfolios as both the Johor MIC State Secretary and the chief of the MIC Parit Sulong division.

Through these structural realignments, MIC is officially backing three new faces to spearhead its campaign to secure Indian voter representation in the state assembly.