Gadek: MIC & DAP clash again – Can MIC retain the seat?
Melaka: Initial candidate announcements have been unveiled for the upcoming Malacca State Legislative Assembly election, scheduled for November 14. While Barisan Nasional (BN) has officially announced its candidates for 21 state seats, the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition has also confirmed it will contest only 21 seats. Both coalitions are expected to allocate the remaining 7 seats to their respective friendly parties.
In the Gadek constituency, traditionally contested by the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), Nadarajah Sellappa will run as the MIC and Barisan Nasional candidate. In the 2021 Melaka state assembly Election, Datuk P. Shanmugam of MIC won the seat by a narrow margin of 559 votes and subsequently served as a Malacca State Executive Council (EXCO) member representing the Indian community. Nadarajah has since replaced him.
Gadek is one of the state assembly constituencies under the Alor Gajah Parliament constituency.
In the 2018 Melaka State election, G. Saminathan contested as the Democratic Action Party (DAP) candidate representing Pakatan Harapan and won the seat. However, in the 2021 Melaka State Assembly election, Saminathan lost to Shanmugam. DAP did not re-nominate Saminathan for the current election.
Under the candidate list announced by Pakatan Harapan chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, DAP has been allocated the Gadek seat within the coalition, naming Jegaseelan K as their official candidate.
Bersama is also contesting in Gadek and has fielded Laveen Balaprabhakaran. Since Bersama announced its 16 candidates about a month ago, it has already begun its on-the-ground election work, while the MIC-DAP candidates are just beginning.
As other political coalitions have yet to announce their candidates, the Gadek contest is currently shaping up as a 3-corner battle between BN, PH and Bersama, but only BN and PH are seen as the main contenders.
Bersama is expected to split the vote, but it remains to be seen whether BN or PH will be affected. Since all three main contenders are Indians, the 17.1% Indian votes would definitely be split.
Political analysts note that if PAS or candidates from the Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition do not enter the race in Gadek, MIC-BN candidate Nadarajah Sellappa’s prospects of victory could strengthen significantly.
The demographic breakdown of the Gadek constituency shows:
Malay Voters: 60.9%
Chinese Voters: 20.8%
Indian Voters: 17.1%
If no separate Malay-centric party (such as PAS) contests, most Malay votes are expected to swing to Barisan Nasional, potentially tilting the advantage in favour of MIC’s candidate.
Official candidate nominations for the Malacca state election will take place on Saturday, October 31, after which the full slate of contesting candidates will be finalised, and election campaigning is expected to intensify.
