Housewife up for fight against big shots in Sg Siput

IPOH: Indrani Selva Kumar may be facing some big shots for the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, but the 50-year-old housewife does not feel threatened one bit.

Indrani, one of the three independent candidates vying for the seat, said she is not concerned about the candidates from Barisan Nasional, Pakatan Harapan and Perikatan Nasional.

"I have been working in Sungai Siput through my non-governmental organisation Pertubuhan Peneraju Insan for the past three years.

"It was the people here who told me to contest in the 15th General Election (GE15)," she said in an interview.

"I was initially slightly nervous about contesting in my first ever general election but with the encouragement from my husband, my NGO members and the folk in Sungai Siput, I felt a burden being lifted off," she said

"I just can't wait for the polling day," she added.

The Sungai Siput federal seat will see a seven-cornered fight, whereby Indrani will face the incumbent S. Kesavan of Pakatan, MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran, Datuk Seri G. Irudianathan of Perikatan, GTA-Pejuang’s Ahmad Fauzi Mohd Jaafar and two other independent candidates, Baharudin Kamaruddin and N. Rajah.

Indrani is also contesting the Jalong state seat against incumbent Loh Sze Yee of Pakatan, Barisan's Pan Chean Chang and Perikatan's Datuk Naran Singh.

Polling day is on Nov 19 and early voting is on Nov 15.

Originally from Petaling Jaya but moved to Sungai Siput five years ago, Indrani said her vision and dream was to see zero squatters in the federal constituency.

"There are plenty of squatters in some villages here, including Kampung Benggali, Kampung Gopal, Kampung Veerasamy and Kampung Kemuning.

"I want people to get proper homes," she said.

"Next on my list is to encourage more children to be sent to schools, including those whose children are categorised as non-citizens, so they can get a proper education, which is the way out of poverty and to have a better future," she added.

She also said that Sungai Siput was a beautiful place but the drainage system, drains and landscaping have not been upgraded for a long time.

"I also hoped to promote the ecotourism industry here, which will improve the economy and also create more jobs for the people," she said.

"There's not even a cinema here and I really want to develop the place and make it livelier," she added.