PETALING JAYA, Oct 26 — Incumbent three-term MP Charles Santiago has been dropped as the DAP candidate for Klang in the 15th general election.

When unveiling Selangor DAP’s GE15 candidates today, party secretary-general Anthony Loke said V Ganabatirau will contest the seat instead of Charles who first won the seat in 2008.

Ganabatirau is the current Selangor exco for social welfare and employee empowerment.

Prior to the announcement, rumours that Charles would be dropped had already been spreading, prompting some non-governmental groups and supporters to launch a campaign advocating for him to be retained.

Selangor DAP chief Gobind Singh Deo, the incumbent Puchong MP, was announced as candidate for the Damansara federal seat, replacing incumbent Tony Pua who is not seeking re-election.

Incumbent Bakri MP Yeo Bee Yin was named as the candidate for Puchong to fill in Gobind's vacancy.

Civil liberties lawyer Syahredzan Johan was also announced as the candidate for Bangi, replacing incumbent Ong Kian Ming who is also not seeking re-election.

Their announcements also coincided with the Malaysian Cup Round of 16 first-leg match between Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) and PJ City taking place at the adjacent MPBJ Stadium.

DAP contested all four aforementioned federal seats in the 2018 general election and won.

Met by reporters later, Gobind said the Pakatan Harapan coalition has yet to decide who will contest the Tanjong Karang seat and will finalise this over the weekend, before suggesting it could go to the allied Malaysia United Democratic Alliance (Muda).