Karpal’s 3rd Son To Stand In Bukit Gelugor By-Election

(NST) – The late Karpal Singh’s third son, Ramkarpal Singh is ready to stand in the Bukit Gelugor by-election this May 25.

The 38-year-old, Penang-born lawyer confirmed that his name was one of the five shortlisted candidates.

However, he said, it was up to DAP to decide.

“I’m ready for it (by-election) and have indicated that to them (DAP) as well, so I leave the decision to them,” Ramkarpal told reporters after the Karpal Singh memorial event at Han Chiang High School, here, last night.

On whether his sister Sangeet Kaur Deo was one of the candidates, Ramkarpal said she was not in the list and that was misreported, adding that the announcement of candidates was likely to be made on Wednesday.

Asked whether Karpal had personally asked him to join politics, Ramkarpal said his father had indicated that to his brothers and a few others but not to him personally.

Karpal, in his first-ever biography titled ‘Karpal Singh — Tiger of Jelutong’, had nominated his son Ramkarpal to succeed him should he lose the parliamentary seat because of his sedition case.

Asked if he was interested to join politics, Ramkarpal said: “I was indirectly involved in politics all my life. The interest just developed over the years”.

Ramkarpal, who officially joined DAP this year, spoke publicly for the first time during the last 13th general election campaign with Karpal by his side at Han Chiang High School.

The Bukit Gelugor parliamentary by-election is being held following the death of the incumbent, Karpal in a road accident on April 17. The Election Commission has fixed May 12 as nomination day while early voting was set for May 21 and polling day for May 25.

The late Karpal, who was former DAP chairman, won the seat in the 2013 general election with a majority of 42,706 votes, beating BN candidate Teh Beng Yeam, who polled 13,597 votes.