PETALING JAYA: MIC president Datuk Seri G. Palanive(Pic)l has been finalising candidates for some of the 19 state seats allocated to the party.
A senior MIC official, however, said that the names of candidates for only three seats Buntong, Hutan Melintang and Tronoh in Perak have been determined.
MIC Youth secretary C. Sivarraajh is tipped to contest in Buntong, which has the highest percentage of Indian voters among the state seats.
It has 11,320 Indians comprising 49.42% of the 22,907 electorate, with 10,071 Chinese and 1,337 Malays.
The Buntong seat, which belonged to the MCA, has been swapped with Sungkai, held by the MIC.
But Palanivel’s choice of Melintang Maju branch chairman Dr M. Appalanaidu, 61, for the Hutan Melintang state seat has raised concerns.
He had initially proposed state deputy MIC chairman Datuk R. Ganesan.
MIC national information chief S. Subramaniam has also been working on the ground over the past year, hoping to be named the candidate for Hutan Melintang.
There are four MIC seats each in Perak and Johor, three in Selangor, two each in Kedah, Penang and Negri Sembilan, and one each in Malacca and Pahang.
The official said Palanivel had identified Penang deputy MIC chief L. Krishnan and state secretary M. Karupanan for the Perai and Bagan Dalam state seats, but two others, Penang MIC Youth chief J. Dhinagaran and Datuk Henry Benedict, are also being considered.
In Sabai, former three-term assemblyman Datuk M. Davendran is expected to be replaced by state secretary R. Goonasakaren, who is the special officer to Pahang Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob, or Pahang MIC Youth chief K. Sivakumar.
In Selangor, MIC Youth chief T. Mohan and former Ijok state assemblyman K. Parthiban are expected to be fielded in the Sri Andalas and Ijok state seats, respectively, while Serdang MIC division chief S. Rawisandran is tipped for the Batu Caves seat.
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