Six-way tussle for Padang Serai

The election for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat will see a six-corner contest.

At the close of nominations, the candidates are Mohamad Sofee Razak (Harapan), C Sivarraajh (BN), Azman Nasrudin (Perikatan Nasional), Hamzah Abdul Rahman (Pejuang), Bakri Hashim (Warisan) and Sreanandha Rao (IND).

Sofee is the Kedah PKR secretary and a lawyer. Sivarraajh is the MIC vice-president and a businessperson.

Azman is currently the Lunas state assemblyperson and a member of the Kedah cabinet.

Azman defected from PKR in 2020 and joined Bersatu.

A victory by either candidate will not have a major impact on politics at the federal level.

However, a BN victory will be a major boost for MIC as it doubles its number of seats in Dewan Rakyat.

Meanwhile, the Tioman election will see Mohd Johari Hussain (BN) attempt to fend off four challengers.

The four are Nor Idayu Hashim (PN), Osman A Bakar (Pejuang), Mohd Fadzli Mohd Ramly (Harapan), and Sulaiman Bakar (Independent).

During the 2018 elections, Johari retained the seat for BN by winning 44 percent of the votes cast. He has represented Tioman for three terms.

A victory in Tioman will be a big boost for BN because it would put them on the same footing as PN, with 17 seats each in the Pahang legislative assembly.

A Pahang government has yet to be formed as no bloc in the state assembly has enough seats to cross the 21-seat simple-majority mark.