JOHOR BARU, Oct 19 — The increase in voter support during the Johor state election for the two state seats in Segamat has given MIC the confidence to retake the parliamentary constituency in the coming 15th general election (GE15), said K. Raven Kumar.

The MIC Youth chief said the optimistic sentiment was also based on the current political situation which is seen to favour the party and Barisan Nasional (BN).

"During the Johor state election, data showed that BN voters had increased for both the Buloh Kasap and Jementah state constituencies in Segamat.

"Although BN lost in Jementah, the number of voters in the area had increased,” said Raven Kumar to reporters during the MuzArt International event at the Yayasan Warisan Johor complex here today.

The Johor Tourism, Environment, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman was commenting on MIC’s chances in Segamat for GE15.

Prior to the 2018 national polls, the northern Johor federal seat was known in the past as an MIC stronghold.

In the 14th general election (GE14), the BN parliamentary candidate for the Segamat seat was Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam, who was also the MIC president at the time. He lost to the Pakatan Harapan (PH) parliamentary candidate Datuk Seri Dr R. Santhara Kumar from PKR by 5,476 votes.

On Johor MIC’s preparations, Raven Kumar said electoral plans have been put in place by the party’s Segamat parliamentary coordinator Datuk M. Asojan, who is also the MIC vice-president.

He added that MIC has been working on reaching out to voters in the area for the past two years.

"MIC’s Youth machinery is 90 per cent prepared, with the remaining only to improve the mobility at the grassroots level.

"Overall, we are confident that BN will win for GE15 and succeed in forming the federal government,” said the Tenggaroh assemblyman.

Meanwhile, Raven Kumar hopes that MIC’s central leadership would give its youth candidates the opportunity to contest in the coming GE15.

"MIC is contesting between nine and 10 parliamentary seats nationwide. So, if two or three candidates are from our Youth wing, that will be good.

"I am confident that young candidates will continue to be accepted by the community, especially for the younger generation.

"Politicking is only during campaigning. After winning, they will need to work hard for the people as that is how they will be judged later,” said Raven Kumar.