Johor Polls: DAP fields Dr Ruban Arumugam for Paloh Assembly seat
JOHOR BAHRU: As the political temperature continues to rise ahead of the Johor state legislative election, the opposition coalition Pakatan Harapan has officially begun rolling out its candidate lineup. As part of this electoral surge, the Democratic Action Party (DAP) has confirmed it will contest 17 state seats and announced its full roster of candidates for these battlegrounds.
DAP has fielded Dr Ruban Arumugam as its official candidate for the Paloh constituency, positioning him as a prominent Indian voice for the party in the upcoming polls.
The Paloh state seat features a diverse multi-ethnic voter demographic, comprising 45.9% Malay voters, 34.7% Chinese voters, 15.5% Indian voters, and 2.6% voters from other communities.
The battle for Paloh
The Paloh constituency is expected to be fiercely contested. During the previous 2022 Johor state election, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition captured the seat when Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) candidate Lee Ting Han emerged victorious.
In that closely watched encounter, MCA’s Lee Ting Han secured the seat by a majority of 3,176 votes, defeating the incumbent DAP candidate, Sheikh Umar Bagharib Ali. While Pakatan Harapan has made its first move by naming Dr Ruben, rival political coalitions and independent factions have yet to announce their respective candidates for the seat.
Administratively, the Paloh state constituency, alongside the neighbouring Kahang state seat, falls directly under the Sembrong federal parliamentary constituency, a traditional stronghold represented by prominent UMNO leader Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein. For the upcoming polls, it is anticipated that Barisan Nasional will field a Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) candidate to defend the sister seat of Kahang under the BN banner.
