SUNGAI SIPUT: The death of Pakatan Harapan's Padang Serai parliamentary candidate M. Karupaiya today would be deeply felt as he was outspoken in championing the people's interests, especially the Indian community, said MIC president Tan Sri S.A Vigneswaran.

"It is a difficult situation. His passing will be felt by his family. He was an MP who always fought for the rights and fate of the Indian community.

"I'm saddened. My condolences to his family," he told Bernama after meeting the community in Taman Kledang here last night.

Karupaiya, 69, was fielded to defend the seat in a six-cornered fight with Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang-Putra), Datuk C. Sivaraj (BN-MIC), Mohd Bakhri Hashim (Warisan), Datuk Azman Nasrudin (PN-Bersatu) and independent candidate Sreanandha Rao in the 15th General Election (GE15).

In GE14, Karupaiya won the seat by a majority of 8,813 votes, beating PAS' Muhamad Sobri Osman and Barisan Nasional's Datuk Dr Leong Yong Kong.

-- BERNAMA