Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak today announced that exco member V Arumugam has stepped down as the state assemblyperson for Bukit Selambau, necessitating in a by-election in next 60 days.

Arumugam Vengatarakoo "With regret I would like to announce that Arumugam has resigned as the Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson with immediate effect," he told reporters at his official residence in Alor Star.

Azizan said that he received Arumugam's resignation letter dated Feb 8 at 5pm today.

He added that a copy of the letter was also handed over to state assembly speaker Abd Isa Ismail, who will now have to declare the seat vacant and inform the Election Commission to call for a by-election.

According to Bernama , Azizan said, Arumugam had sent two letters through a representative - one stating his resignation as assemblyperson to the speaker and the other to him to inform that he was stepping down from both posts.

Asked about the reasons for Arumugam's resignation, Azizan said the former had mentioned about receiving threats to defect to Barisan Nasional. He added that Arumugam mentioned that he was offered RM5 million to crossover.

"I respect his stand in rejecting the RM5 million offer and according to the letter, he (Arumugam) had been receiving threats since March 2008 and fearing for his and his family's safety, he took the decision to resign," he said.

This was Azizan's second announcement in regards to Arumugam.

First resignation

Earlier today, the menteri besar had said that Arumugam had relinquished his post as the exco member but will continue as Bukit Selambau state assemblyperson.

Arumugam was in charge of trade, consumer affairs, welfare of the estate workers and Indian community affairs.

He was an independent candidate who joined the PKR after the general election.

His decision today comes after weeks of speculation that he would be giving up politics altogether.

He had recently complained that he was being threatened to defect from the Pakatan Rakyat-led state to BN.

In more recent weeks, certain details of his personal life have been used against him to force him to step down as a state representative.

Arumugam, 54, could not be contacted for confirmation. He has been incommunicado since last week.

Letter to sultan

azizan abdul razak Speaking to reporters in Alor Star earlier today, Azizan said that Arumugam had sent his resignation letter as an exco member to Sultan Kedah Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah today.

"The letter was sent from Kuala Lumpur to the sultan's office at Wisma Darul Aman," he said.

Arumugam had also conveyed his decision to Azizan's aide this morning, citing personal reasons for his decision.

"I tried to call him but he was not contactable. I don't have a copy of his resignation letter," added Azizan.

Azizan said that portfolio would now be taken up by another representative from PKR.

Early this month, Arumugan had lodged a police report claiming, among others, that there was an attempt to kidnap him.

He also claimed that he and his officers have received numerous threats.

"All of this is being done in order to force me to leave PKR and move to Barisan Nasional," he had said after lodging the police report.

He had said that apart from the threats, he was also approached with lucrative offers in order to coax him into leaving PKR.

Last minute candidate

Last week, talks of Arumugam leaving PKR heated up again, especially when he could not be contacted by anyone. His party colleagues then revealed that he was on leave.

Kedah - which was an Umno stronghold fell - into the hands of Pakatan Rakyat following the March 8 general election.

A retired Royal Malaysia Airforce mechanic Arumugam won the Bukit Selambau seat by defeating Barisan Nasional/MIC candidate S Krishnan with a majority of 2,362 votes.

He emerged at the last minute as the independent candidate when the returning officer rejected the nomination papers of Saiful Izham Ramli of PKR on technical grounds.

The by-election in Bukit Selambau means that Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat would have to face simultaneous election campaigns as the Bukit Gantang parliamentary seat also became vacant today following the death of PAS' Roslan Shaharum.