DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang has hinted at an ulterior motive for the attacks on Hulu Selangor PKR candidate Zaid Ibrahim over his past drinking habit.

He questioned if those responsible are “going for a larger target” such as Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and perhaps even Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

“There are many layers of conspiracy and power struggle within Umno," he told a press conference in the Parliament lobby today.

Lim, the Ipoh Timor MP, also pointed out a photograph on the Internet that shows someone who resembles Hishammuddin holding a beer can, had been in circulation for the past eight years.

"We never touched on it, never used it. Why is it an issue now? Its all thanks to Umno’s dirty campaign in Hulu Selangor," he said.

He claimed that this is the direction of election strategy that DAP does not  want to see, and called on the prime minister to “send out clear directives to put an end to dirty politics in Hulu Selangor”.