A by-election was held for the Kedah State Assembly seat of Bukit Selambau on 7 April 2009 following the nomination day on 30 March 2009.
The seat was vacated after the incumbent assemblyman and State EXCO, V. Arumugam resigned of both his positions on 9 February 2009.
He won the seat, then as an independent, by a majority of 2,362 votes against Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate, S. Krishnan in the 2008 Kedah state election.
[4][5] S. Manikumar of PKR has been nominated as Pakatan Rakyat candidate in the by-election.
BN, which forms the opposition in the Kedah Assembly, named S. Ganesan from MIC as their candidate.