KUALA LUMPUR: MIC will still be contesting the Hulu Selangor parliamentary seat in the upcoming 15th General Election (GE15) amid speculation that it will be given to an Umno candidate.

MIC deputy president Datuk Seri M. Saravanan said if there were requests pertaining to the distribution of seats among the parties in Barisan Nasional, these would first be discussed at the grassroots level for a suitable approach to winning the seats.

“The same situation had existed before with regard to the request of exchanging seats, but the Barisan leadership comprising four important component parties will be discussing it at the Barisan level,” he told Bernama.

There have been talks that the Hulu Selangor Umno division wants to field its candidate for the parliamentary seat in GE15 to prove the party’s capability of seizing the seat from PKR.

In GE14, the Barisan candidate from MIC, Datuk P. Kamalanathan, failed to defend the seat when he lost to the PKR candidate, June Leow Hsiad Hui, with a majority of 13,391 votes.

The Hulu Selangor seat has been among MIC’s traditional seats, with its former president, Datuk Seri G. Palanivel having won the seat four times – in 1990, 1995, 1999 and 2004.

Saravanan said that any pressure to exchange seats or candidates could hinder victory for Barisan, besides possibly reducing the Indian community’s support not just in certain constituencies, but also as a whole.

“We’ve seen that the Barisan leadership has been rational all this while as a power-sharing partner in determining the distribution of seats,” he added. – Bernama