Lim Lip Eng will leave his Segambut seat to contest Tan’s Kepong seat.
Lim’s Segambut seat will be contested by Hannah Yeoh, who served Subang Jaya as its assemblywoman for two terms.
There is no change in the candidates for other constituencies, with Fong Kui Lun contesting in Bukit Bintang, Tan Kok Wai in Cheras and Teresa Kok in Seputeh.
The decision was no surprise as it was widely expected that eight-term Tan would be dropped from the list of candidates.
Within DAP, Tan is known for his frank views and has often spoken out against party leaders. Hence, it was widely speculated that he would be dropped in GE14.
The feud became open when DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng revealed last June that Tan had been “incommunicado” with party leaders since early this year.
It was learned that Tan was selected to stand again in Kepong only at the last minute in the 2013 polls. He won with the biggest majority ever in the overwhelmingly Chinese-majority seat since his first victory in 1982.
Tan was born in Kota Bharu and got involved in politics at the age of 34 when he joined Parti Keadilan Masyarakat Malaysia (Pekemas) in 1976. He served as a physician in the army for a year in 1971.
He was first fielded as a candidate in a general election for the Kepong seat in 1978 on a Pekemas ticket, but he lost in a four-cornered fight.
He won the seat in the next election in 1982 and had been its MP ever since. He was also Selangor DAP chairman for five years, from 1982 to 1987.
Tan was also Public Accounts Committee (PAC) vice-chairman.
Tan retained the seat in GE13 with a majority of 40,307 votes, beating two challengers, Chandrakumanan Arumugam of PPP and independent Yee Poh Ping.
DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang had recently indicated in a Facebook post that Yeoh would be fielded in a parliamentary seat in GE14.
Lim was first elected as Segambut MP in the 12th general election when he defeated BN’s Ma Woei Chyi by 7,732 votes — effectively wresting the seat which had been considered a BN stronghold.
In GE13, Lim increased his winning margin from 7,732 votes to 19,199 against BN’s B Jayanthi Devi.