JOHOR BARU: Barisan Nasional’s MIC victory in Perling marks a significant achievement for the party, says its vice-president Datuk M. Asojan (pic).
He said this was because MIC had never before won a Chinese-majority seat, particularly one regarded as a DAP stronghold after being under the party’s control for almost three terms.
“Although our majority was 1,611 votes, our candidate B. Pannir Selvam received almost double the number of the votes that Barisan secured in the 2022 election.
“Pannir garnered 33,468 votes compared with the 15,281 votes Barisan obtained previously.
“This clearly sends the message that MIC is willing to take on the challenge of contesting in urban seats and not just those in Malay-majority or rural areas,” he said.
He added that MIC newcomer R. Kumaran won the Bukit Batu seat with a 174-vote majority.
Asojan said another newcomer, V. Rugendran, won the Kahang seat with the biggest majority in the election, securing a 12,013-vote majority.
He added that Johor MIC chief K. Raven Kumar retained the Kemelah seat with a 3,831-vote majority, an increase from the 1,356-vote majority he secured when he contested Tenggaroh in the previous state election.
The Tenggaroh seat was allocated to Umno under a Barisan Nasional seat-swap arrangement.
Asojan credited MIC’s improved performance to the “Onn Hafiz factor”, citing Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi’s leadership in managing the state, attracting investments and looking after the welfare of the people.
“This is definitely an Onn Hafiz wave. Despite voter turnout rising to more than 68%, compared with 54% in 2022, people of all races voted for Barisan.
“Barisan’s grassroots machinery was also effective in getting voters out to the polling stations,” he said.
He added that many voters in Perling and Bukit Batu, who commute daily to Singapore for work, also appreciated Onn Hafiz’s efforts to improve the two land border crossings with the republic.
He noted that these commuters form a decisive voting bloc of almost 300,000 people across Johor’s southern districts.
Asojan said he has reminded the newly elected MIC assemblymen not to take the support they received for granted, but instead begin serving the people in their respective constituencies immediately.
