# Manickam Letchuman

Yang Berbahagia Dato' Manickam s/o Letchuman (born 30 November 1959) is a Malaysian politician who served as Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Executive Council (EXCO) in the Barisan Nasional (BN) state administration under former Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan from May 2013 to the collapse of the BN administration in May 2018 as well as Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Jeram Padang from May 2013 to August 2023. He is an independent and was a member and State Chairman of Negeri Sembilan and Division Chief of Jempol of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), a component party of the BN coalition.
On 6 October 2023, Manickam quit MIC. In 2024, he joined the Malaysian Islamic Party Supporter's Congress (DHPP).

## Political career
### Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Executive Council (2013–2018)

In the 2013 Negeri Sembilan state election, the ruling BN gained victory, won the majority in the assembly and was reelected to power. Rantau MLA Mohamad of BN was reappointed the Menteri Besar. On 22 May 2013, Manickam was appointed as the Negeri Sembilan State EXCO Member in charge of Human Resources, Plantations and New Villages by Mohamad.
In the 2018 Negeri Sembilan state election, BN suffered from defeat, lost the majority in the assembly and power to Pakatan Harapan (PH). State Chairman of PH of Negeri Sembilan and Sikamat MLA Aminuddin Harun replaced Mohamad as the new Menteri Besar and formed the new PH state administration on 12 May 2018. Therefore, Manickam lost his EXCO Member position.

### Member of the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly (2013–2023)
#### 2013 Negeri Sembilan state election

In the 2013 state election, Manickam made his electoral debut after being nominated by BN to contest for the Jeram Padang state seat. He won the seat and was elected to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly as the Jeram Padang MLA for the first term after defeating Kumar A/L Thuraisingham of Pakatan Rakyat (PR) and independent candidates Zailani Zakaria as well as Mazavan A Raman Nair by the majority of 2,691 votes.

#### 2018 Negeri Sembilan state election

In the 2018 state election, Manickam was renominated by BN to defend the Jeram Padang seat. He defended the seat and was reelected to the Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly as the Jeram Padang MLA for the second term after defeating independent candidate Surash Sreenivasan, S Musliadi Sabtu of PH and Mohd Fairuz Mohd Isa of Gagasan Sejahtera (GS).

#### 2023 Negeri Sembilan state election

In the 2023 Negeri Sembilan state election, MIC decided against contesting in it. Manickam did not defend the Jeram Padang seat following the decision. Mohd Zaidy Abdul Kadir of another BN component party the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was nominated by BN to contest for the seat instead.

## Election results

Negeri Sembilan State Legislative Assembly :
| Year | Constituency | Candidate | Votes | Pct | Opponent(s) | Votes | Pct | Ballots cast | Majority | Turnout |
| 2013 | N07 Jeram Padang | Manickam Letchuman (MIC) | 5,690 | 63.68% | Kumar Thuraisingham (PKR) | 2,999 | 33.57% | 9,185 | 2,691 | 81.20% |
| 2013 | N07 Jeram Padang | Manickam Letchuman (MIC) | 5,690 | 63.68% | Zailani Zakaria (IND) | 201 | 2.25% | 9,185 | 2,691 | 81.20% |
| 2013 | N07 Jeram Padang | Manickam Letchuman (MIC) | 5,690 | 63.68% | Mazavan Raman Nair (IND) | 45 | 0.50% | 9,185 | 2,691 | 81.20% |
| 2018 | N07 Jeram Padang | Manickam Letchuman (MIC) | 3,702 | 39.26% | Surash Sreenivasan (IND) | 2,640 | 28.00% | 9,844 | 1,062 | 79.80% |
| 2018 | N07 Jeram Padang | Manickam Letchuman (MIC) | 3,702 | 39.26% | S Musliadi Sabtu (PKR) | 2,302 | 24.41% | 9,844 | 1,062 | 79.80% |
| 2018 | N07 Jeram Padang | Manickam Letchuman (MIC) | 3,702 | 39.26% | Mohd Fairuz Mohd Isa (PAS) | 785 | 8.33% | 9,844 | 1,062 | 79.80% |

## Honours

* Negeri Sembilan :
** Knight Commander of the Order of Loyalty to Negeri Sembilan (DPNS) – Dato' (2015)
** Recipient of the Medal for Outstanding Public Service (PMC) (2011)
** Recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal (PJK) (2006)