Melaka polls: Sea of blue and red supporters gather at Tanjung Bidara

MELAKA: A sea of supporters dressed in blue and red gathered at Dewan Datuk KPT (B) Haji Ab Karim, Japerun Tanjung Bidara, here this morning as Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan candidates arrived for nomination for the Tanjung Bidara seat.

BN supporters, dressed in blue, began gathering as early as 7am before marching about 100 metres while waving party flags and chanting "blue wave" slogans as they accompanied caretaker Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ab Rauf Yusoh to the nomination centre.

Ab Rauf, who is also state BN chairman, arrived at 8.58am accompanied by BN chairman Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

Dressed in a red Baju Melayu, PH candidate Mohd Yunazri Mustamiri arrived at 8.20am accompanied by PKR vice-president Datuk Chang Lih Kang.

The 36-year-old Masjid Tanah PKR pro-tem secretary was later seen entering the nomination centre at 9.06am.

The contest is expected to be a straight fight between Ab Rauf and Mohd Yunazri.

Tanjung Bidara is among the seats attracting attention in this state election, with Ab Rauf seeking to defend the seat he won in the 2021 Melaka election.

In the three-cornered contest, Ab Rauf secured 3,559 votes to defeat his challengers, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin and Zainal Hassan, with a majority of 364 votes.

According to the Election Commission, Tanjung Bidara has 15,003 registered voters.