TAPAH, April 26 -- The Perak state constituency of Ayer Kuning remains firmly in Barisan Nasional (BN) hands, after clearing 50 per cent of the total 31,281 registered votes in an unofficial tally this evening.

Umno secretary-general Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki called victory for its candidate Mohamad Yusri Bakir shortly after 7pm, when the BN anchor party bagged 10,354.

The scoreboard at the BN command centre showed its closest rival Perikatan National (PN) to have scored 5,603, while Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) netted 1,004 votes.

The by-election in Perak officially ended at 6pm today with the closure of all 19 voting centres.

PN was represented by Abd Muhaimin Malek while Bawani KS ran for PSM.

The Ayer Kuning by-election was call...