GE15: Battle royal for Batu as 10 candidates vie for seat

Returning officer Khairul Azmir Ahmad (in blazer) with the candidates for the Batu parliamentary seat.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Batu parliamentary seat will see fresh faces, a returning MP, and the incumbent fighting it out in a nail-biting 10-cornered fight in the 15th General Election (GE15).

The battle will be intense as former Batu MP Chua Tian Chang, better known as Tian Chua, is seeking to make a comeback as an independent candidate after he was dropped by PKR.

He will face off against incumbent MP P. Prabakaran from PKR.

The former PKR vice-president will also be facing off against three other independent candidates as well as candidates from Barisan Nasional, Pejuang Tanah Air, Warisan and Parti Rakyat Harapan.

Batu will see an interesting campaign as social media influencer Nur Fathiah Syazwana, or “Cleopatra” as she is better known, joins Siti Kasim and Too Cheng Huat as Independent candidates for Batu.

As for Barisan Nasional, MIC vice-president Datuk A. Kohilan Pillay successfully filed his nomination papers this morning.

“It won’t be an easy task to convince young and first voters but we are up to it.

“I was a former teacher here and know most of the first-time voters' parents, who were my students,” he said.

Parti Warisan is fielding businessman Naganathan Pillai, while PAS’ Azhar Yahya will contest on the Perikatan Nasional ticket.

Mohd Zulkifli Abdul Fattah, from Parti Rakyat Malaysia (PRM), is also joining in the fight for crowded Batu.