The 1994 Shahbandar Raya by-election is a by-election for the Selangor State Legislative Assembly seat of Shahbandar Raya that were held on 30 November 1986. It was called following the death of the incumbent, T. M. Thurai on 30 March 1994.
Background.
T. M. Thurai, a candidate of Barisan Nasional (BN), were elected to the state seat of Shahbandar Raya in the 1990 Selangor state election, defeating A.N. Mathurai of Indian Progressive Front (IPF) who were using Semangat 46's logo and name as part of Angkatan Perpaduan Ummah-Gagasan Rakyat coalition. Thurai were a member of BN's component party Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC).
On 30 March 1994, Thurai died on board of an airplane heading to Melbourne, as he seek medical treatment. This necessitates for by-election for the seat to be held, as the seat were vacated more that 2 years before the expiry of the state assembly current term.
Nomination and campaign.
On the nomination day, it were confirmed there will be a three-way fight between BN and 2 other independent candidates for the Shahbandar Raya seat. BN nominated S.S. Rajagopal, the MIC Batu Caves division chairman and the party's national executive secretary. Pu Palan Muthusamy, a local businessman, and Subari Saman, also saw their nomination as independent candidates accepted by SPR. The nomination day also saw another candidate nomination rejected as he were 5 second late after nomination period closed.
Timeline.
The key dates are listed below.
Aftermath.
Muhammad Muhammad Taib, Selangor Menteri Besar and BN Selangor chairman, thanked the voters for choosing BN and said the win will be an impetus by state and federal government to speed up the country's development progress. Then Opposition Leader in Dewan Rakyat, Lim Kit Siang, dismissed the win by BN, citing the votes received by BN were only slightly higher than previous election while no major opposition party contesting against BN, and claiming most of the voters in the constituency did not turn out due to 'silent protest'.