Indian-origin Murali Pillai elected to Singapore parliament

An Indian-origin man, Murali Pillai, from Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) was elected member of the parliament on Saturday following his victory in the by-election held at suburban Bukit Batok constituency.

An Indian-origin man from Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) was elected member of the parliament on Saturday following his victory in the by-election held at suburban Bukit Batok constituency.

Murali Pillai garnered 61.21% of the votes and was elected member of the parliament on Saturday following his victory in the by-election held at suburban Bukit Batok constituency. (Picture courtesy: Twitter)

Murali Pillai garnered 61.21% of the votes, while Singapore Democratic Party’s Chee Soon Juan got 38.79% of votes.

The Elections Department said a total of 24,192 votes were cast, including 622 rejected votes, which made up 94.03% of the 25,727 registered electors.

Chee, a vociferous opposition leader, had challenged the ruling party in the one-on-one contest.

President Tony Tan Keng Yam had issued the writ of election on April 20.

The Bukit Batok single seat was vacated when previous PAP MP David Ong resigned in March, following an alleged extramarital affair with a PAP activist.

PAP, led by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, has absolute majority in the house.