By : ANISAH SHUKRY
PETALING JAYA: Despite
retaining Putrajaya, Barisan Nasional yesterday suffered heavy blows when it
saw several prominent leaders fall at the hands of Pakatan Rakyat.
Most notable are Federal
Territories and Urban Well-being minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal, Transport
minister Kong Cho Ha, and Plantation Industries and Commodities minister Tan
Sri Bernard Dompok.
Despite his vast financial
resources and position in the cabinet, Raja Nong Chik lost Lembah Pantai by
1,847 votes to incumbent MP Nurul Izzah Anwar.
Kong lost by an overwhelming
8,168 votes in Lumut to PKR’s Mohamad Imran Abd Hamid, while PKR’ newcomer
Ignatius Dorell Leiking slaughtered Bernard in Penampang by a majority of
10,216 votes.
Popular deputy ministers who
saw their heads roll at the ballot box were Umno’s Saifuddin Abdullah and Mohd
Puad Zarkashi, Gerakan’s A Kohilan Pillay and MIC’s SK Devamany.
Former deputy education
minister Saifuddin lost by a mere 1,070 votes to PAS’s Nasrudin Hassan,
fuelling speculation that the BN leader was a victim of internal sabotage due
to his “moderate” stance and vocal criticism of his party’s excesses.
Similarly, deputy education
Mohd Puad Zarkashi lost by a mere 1,732 to PKR’s Mohd Idris Jusi in Batu Pahat,
Johor.
In contrast, Kohilan was
positively decimated by DAP’s Gobind Singh Deo in Puchong; the Selangor Gerakan
chief cum deputy Foreign minister lost by a vast vote margin of 32,802.
MIC vice president,
Devamany, meanwhile lost to PSM’s Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj by 2,793 votes in
Sungai Siput, Perak.
Devamany, who was minister
in the prime minister’s department, had been parachuted from the Cameron
Highlands constituency where he won by 3,117 votes in 2008.
Replacing him in this
election was MIC president G Palanivel, who managed to win with a meager 462
vote majority over DAP candidate M Managoran.
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