KUALA KUBU BHARU: The Hulu Selangor by-election is set to get more intense with a straight fight between Barisan Nasional's (BN) P Kamalanathan and PKR's Datuk Zaid Ibrahim, after the two independents withdrew their nominations on Monday, April 19.

The two independent candidates, former Hulu Selangor MIC division deputy chief V S Chandran and former Shah Alam Umno Youth committee member Johan Mohd Diah, withdrew their applications from the Election Commission (EC) before the midnight deadline on Monday. Both candidates will lose their RM10,000 deposit.

Johan's departure, which was reported by a news daily late last night, came as a surprise to many as he had given his maiden press conference just a few hours earlier on Monday evening, speaking about his campaign strategy and plans.

The 31-year-old, who hails from the Sungai Tengi Felda settlement in the constituency, had called the press conference to launch his campaign machinery, saying he was planning to go house to house to win votes.

The press conference was held under a makeshift tent in front of Johan's mother's weather-beaten wooden house in Kampung Jalan Puteri, Desa Maju at the Sungai Tengi Felda settlement here.

There were no campaign banners or flags to mark the house although his neighbours were flying PAS, PKR and BN flags.

Apart from his wife Sharifah Nooraini Syed Abu Bakar and their year-old daughter, Johan's first media event had no supporters in sight or the usual fanfare of political parties' by-election campaign.

The large media presence in the quiet Felda village, however, drew several neighbours who came to watch the event.

Johan's machinery has been shrouded in secrecy after as he remained tight-lipped on how many supporters and election workers he has, saying that some of them had "political interests" and were unable to appear publicly.

When asked, the local trader also dismissed speculation that he was contesting to "spoil" BN's votes.

"If I join to spoil votes, I will lose my RM10,000 deposit. We join to win," he said.

When asked, Johan also said he had not received notification of his sacking from Umno for standing as an independent against BN's candidate. He also said would not join other political parties, saying "Umno is in my heart. I love Umno".

Asked what he would do if he lost the bid, Johan quipped, "Life must go on."

But if he was elected to parliament, Johan said he would raise youth and Felda issues in the Dewan Rakyat as well as bring more human capital development for Hulu Selangor's youth.

Earlier on Monday, fellow independent candidate V S Chandran withdrew his nomination, saying that he "loves" and supported Barisan Nasional (BN), not MIC.

Chandran, who is the former Hulu Selangor MIC division deputy chief, was accepted as an independent candidate after nominations on April 17, and had decided to join the race out of dissatisfaction with MIC.

However, the 56-year-old Hulu Selangor local on Monday said he had a change of heart on Sunday night after discussions with friends and had decided not to fight BN.

"I'm a Barisan supporter but I don't want to destroy BN's votes because of some misunderstanding between MIC and myself. I want BN to win... Let's win, win, win," he told reporters at the Hulu Selangor district office on Monday.

Chandran also said he would campaign for BN but not for the coalition's candidate P Kamalanathan, who is also MIC information chief.

"I don't care about the party. I care about BN. I worry about BN. I support BN 110%. I love PM (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak), DPM (Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin). I support BN," Chandran said, dismissing questions of whether MIC's membership in BN would render his position difficult.

When asked, Chandran said he would not patch up with MIC and was unfazed by the party's threats to sack him for attempting to contest the Hulu Selangor by-election.

With the two candidates out of the picture, the spotlight is due to intensify on Kamalanathan and Zaid, and their respective parties. Zaid had recently come under fire following his admission that he consumed alcohol in his younger days while PKR had been beleaguered by the resignation of its Hulu Selangor treasurer Dr Halili Rahmat.

Hulu Selangor voters will head to the ballot boxes on April 25 in the by-election that was called following the death of its incumbent representative, PKR's Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Ahmad, on March 25.

During the 2008 general election, Zainal Abidin won the seat by a slim 198-vote majority, defeating MIC deputy president Datuk G Palanivel, who had been Hulu Selangor's MP for four terms.

The parliamentary constituency has 64,500 registered voters including 799 postal voters with Malays making up the majority with 34,020 voters (52.7%). This is followed by the Chinese with 16,964 voters (26.3%), Indians at 12,453 voters (19.3%) while voters from other races constitute 1.7% of voters.