Former Arau MP Shahidan Kassim and former Ketereh MP Annuar Musa appear to have been dropped, confirming earlier reports that they would not feature in the coming polls.

Also seemingly dropped were Halimah Sadique, Dr Adham Baba and Zahidi Zainul Abidin.

The five were part of Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s administration.

BN chairman Ahmad Zahid Hamidi named Rozabil Abd Rahman as the candidate for Arau, while Ketereh will be represented by Marzuani Ardila Ariffin.

Manndzri Nasib was named as the Tenggara candidate, a seat previously held by Adham.

Zahid meanwhile did not name candidates for Tanjung Karang, Jempol, Kuala Pilah, Tumpat, Kuala Nerus and Bandar Tun Razak.

Only Tanjung Karang and Jempol were previously won by BN in the last general election. These seats were previously held by Noh Omar and Salim Sharif Mohd Sharif respectively.

There had been speculation that many winnable candidates would be dropped, especially those who were aligned to Ismail, who had formed a coalition government in August last year with support from Perikatan Nasional and other parties.

Umno vice-president Khaled Nordin was named as the Kota Tinggi candidate. The seat was previously held by Halimah.

Zahida Zarik Khan, meanwhile, will stand in Padang Besar which was previously represented by Zahidi.

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