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Kuala Lumpur:  Oct 11 — MIC president Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran is keen to contest the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat in Perak, which was the stronghold of former late president Tun S. Samy Vellu in the upcoming general election.

The former president of the Dewan Negara from 2016 to 2020 also confirmed his party will be contesting a total of nine parliamentary seats and 18 state seats, The Star reported today.

“I hope I will be contesting in Sungai Siput,” he was quoted as saying, adding that MIC might go for more than nine MP seats if it was possible.

“That’s what I am thinking of. I cannot go to a new place. There’s not enough time,” he reportedly added.

He said coordinators had been appointed a few years ago in specific areas to engage voters there.

“We are confident as they have already met the locals and worked well with the Malays, Chinese and Indians,” he was quoted as saying.

The Sungai Siput seat was won by PKR’s Kesavan Subramaniam in Election 2018.

Samy Vellu held the seat for eight terms from September 1974 to March 2008, when he lost it to Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj from Parti Sosialis Malaysia.

Yesterday, national news agency Bernama reported that Vigneswaran revealed about 70 per cent of his party’s candidates for GE15 will be new faces and that leaders in the party who already hold positions will be given priority though he did not mention their names.