KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 19): Pakatan Harapan's Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad — who described himself to The Edge in an interview last week as a slow plodding 'tortoise' in the Kuala Selangor race — has managed to defend the seat against the fierce onslaught of Barisan Nasional's 49-year-old technocrat, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz.

According to the Election Commission data, Dzulkefly, or Dr Dzul as he is fondly known among locals in the Parliamentary seat, regained the seat with a majority of 1,002 — a much lower majority compared with his previous win of over 8,000 votes in the general election in 2018.

Zafrul, who worked hard to shed his 'kayangan' or elite image in his election debut here, where he marketed himself as the man who will provide solutions to the daily problems of the locals, came in close behind Dzulkefly with 30,031 votes.

While the seat is a four-cornered one between Dzulkefly, Zafrul, Perikatan Nasional's Mohd Noor Mohd Sahar and Pejuang (Gerakan Tanah Air)'s Mohd Shaid Rosli, the focus from the get-go here — where the number of eligible voters had jumped 48% to 102,951 from 69,397 — has been between Zafrul and Dzulkefly.
 
PN's Mohd Noor, who also put up a strong fight, garnered 23,639 votes of the total 102,951 votes cast. Mohd Shaid, who secured only 1,778 votes, will be forfeiting his deposit.