TELUK INTAN, May 19 — The MIC has mobilised its members to conduct house-to-house campaigning to capture the hearts of voters, especially Indians, to provide support for the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election.

MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said other Indian-based parties, including the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Indian Progressive Front (IPF) and Makkal Sakti would also contact more than half of the 11,468-strong Indian electorate outside Teluk Intan.

“Our focus is not only on voters who live here, but also on those who work and live outside Teluk Intan to ensure that they support BN,” he told Bernama after the by-election nomination process in Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Perak here today.

BN candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong, 53, who is also Gerakan president, is being challenged by DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, 27.

The by-election follows the death of DAP incumbent, Seah Leong Peng, 48, who succumbed to cancer on May 1.

Early voting is on May 27. Polling is on May 31.

In the 13th General Election last year, Seah beat Mah and independent candidate Moralingam Kannan, with a majority of 7,313 votes.

Indians totalling 11,468 voters, or 19 per cent of the 60,349 voters are said to play an important role in determining the winning candidate.

“Together with the other Indian-based parties, we will ensure that more than 70 per cent of Indian voters support Mah, although MIC members totalled only about 4,700.

“We will also focus on the young voters between the ages of 30 and 39. I’m sure the Indians are starting to understand that BN can make a difference to them.

“Mah is not a new person here, he is a good leader,” said Palanivel.

The Chinese comprise the largest electorate at 25,310 or 41.94 per cent, followed by the Malays comprising 23,301 (38.6 per cent) while the rest consists of others.

Meanwhile, PPP president Datuk Seri M. Kayveas said although MIC would lead the machinery to woo the Indian voters, PPP and other parties like IPF, Makkal Sakti and the Malaysian Indian United Party (MUIP) had also outlined programmes and approaches to win the votes.

“The PPP has 71 branches with more than 13,000 members in Teluk Intan. We will focus on the Indian voters, together with MIC, PPP and Makkal Sakti.

“We want to make sure that the Indian voter turnout is more than 70 per cent and in support of BN,” he said, after the nomination process at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Seri Perak here today.

Kayveas said Mah was capable of solving problems faced by Indians and would continue to ensure their welfare was assured.

IPF president Datuk M. Sambanthan said the party which had 19 branches with 1,500 members, including 1,028 voters had launched an operations room in Taman Intan, Jalan Changkat Jong, yesterday and began their first campaign in Batu 6 today.

He said during the nomination process this morning, he brought up a number of problems facing the Indian community here to Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Among them were crematorium facilities, identification document problems, welfare assistance to poor families and upgrading temple facilities.

Sambanthan said he had brought up the matters to Muhyiddin’s attention, adding that the deputy prime minister had promised to fix them.

Makkal Sakthi president Datuk R. S. Thanenthiran said the by-election provided an excellent opportunity to meet with local people and solve their problems.

“We will be playing an important role in the by-election and are also raising the concerns of the Indian community, with a view to resolve them,” he said. — Bernama