MIC president SA Vigneswaran said MIC candidate S Suppayah lost to PKR’s Arthur Chiong by just 137 votes.

“During the counting process, we found that the number of spoilt votes, at 650, was higher than the winning majority.

“We did state our objection (during vote counting) but a protest needs to be lodged through the right channels,” he said. An election petition is to be filed.

In the Johor state elections which ended on Saturday, MIC had contested four seats and won in Kemelah, Kahang and Tenggaroh.

Vigneswaran said MIC’s three-seat win showed that the people wanted Barisan Nasional (BN) back to form the government again.

“We find that Indian voters have returned to BN; this is no longer a rhetoric. Hopefully, we can also receive the support of Indians at the 15th general election,” he said.