Independent candidates are normally ignored by many - the contesting political parties as well as the voters. Many had entered electoral contests as independents, and for a variety of reasons. Except for the odd few, the majority had lost, including their deposits in the process.

Most independents are considered lightweights, playing the role of spoilers at best.

But it seems that some of the 13 independent candidates vying for the Bukit Selambau state seat in Kedah are not politicians to be taken lightly. They have great ‘value’ and ‘feared’ by one contesting party PKR, or so they claim.

Here are some incidents reported or yet-to-be-reported of several independents claiming that PKR had offered money to buy them over in order to get their support. It’s up to voters to decide whether to believe their claims.

bkt selambau independent candidate a jayagopal 020409 Case 1 - A Jayagopal - He claims that he was approached by three PKR ‘people’, one of them from Kuala Lumpur.

According to him, the "the leader from KL" called him the day before nomination on Sunday and both men met at a place in the Bukit Selambau constituency.

“The person did not offer money but only asked what my demands were. He asked me what I want, and I told him a senatorship.

"And then he asked me how to make that happen, so I suggested that Senator Zamri Yusof (Kedah PKR chairperson) resigns, and then Dr Wan Azizah and Azizan (Kedah MB) should sign a recommendation for me to replace him.”

"He said he can't make that decision... so what is the point of talking to me."

Jayagopal further claims that a local from Sungai Petani had offered RM150,000 while another offer came via a text message but the amount was not stated.

Case 2 - T Chadrarajan He claims to have been offered RM50,000 two days ago. According to him, his friend picked up the call and a man, who introduced himself as a PKR representative purportedly offered him the money and asked him to quit but Chandrarajan declined.

He says that since the call was answered by his friend and only appeared as a call from a private number, he decided not to lodge a police report.

Nevertheless, as the MACC came to know of the matter through the Internet, he was called up to give a statement but Chadrarajan questioned why that was done as he did not lodge a report with them.

He was told by MACC officers that the matter would be further investigated and that he would be called up again when necessary.

Case 3 - Unnamed independent According to a report in the Star, an independent candidate, who did not want to be named claims that since he was aware of many ‘PKR secrets', the party had offered RM1 million to him to withdraw but he rejected it. He reveals no further details.

pkr tian chua launch reformasi mooncake 030908 06 Meanwhile, PKR information chief Tian Chua urged those who have received such offers to immediately lodge a report with the MACC.

“It is a very stupid thing to do during the campaign period. PKR will not request any one to withdraw. We prefer to win the trust of the people through the ballot box,” he told a press conference today.

"If Jayagopal knows the identity of the person who made the offer, just send the information to MACC and let him face legal action. This kind of claims will not affect our chances to win. The people will judge us by the policies we have adopted," said Tian Chua.