Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad will campaign in opposition strongholds in his home state of Kedah where Barisan Nasional (BN) candidates have a chance to win.

He said he would help explain to the people what the BN struggle was all about.

"I only want to tell them the truth, to refute baseless allegations and other bad things," he said in a 20-minute interview with pilihanraya.cc , an online paper, at his office in Putrajaya today. The story was later reported by Bernama .

On the ruling front's chances in the PAS-controlled state Kelantan, Mahathir said the people supported Umno but the state Umno had its problem, that of supporting its own candidates, unlike in other states.

"Kelantan is a bit difficult. I was Kelantan Umno chief for 10 years. For two general elections I tried but failed to change their attitude," he added.

On PAS' attempt to capture Kedah, the former premier said the state Umno and BN were now stronger than in the 1999 general election.

Out of the total 36 state seats in Kedah, PAS won 12 while Umno captured 16. The remaining seats fell to BN component parties.

As for the 15 parliamentary seats, PAS clinched eight, Umno took five and MCA two.

Mahathir retired last November after serving as prime minister for 22 years. He was succeeded by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

1,000 SMS

In another development, MIC president S Samy Vellu said he has received more than 1,000 messages through the short messaging service (SMS) congratulating him on the choice of party candidates for the coming polls.

He said the senders, including party members and supporters, commended him for picking the right candidates for the nine parliamentary and 19 state seats that the BN component party is contesting.

"I have even run out of space in my handphone. None said bad things about the candidates although before my announcement on Wednesday there were many SMS lobbying for certain people," he was quoted in a Bernama report.

On Wednesday, Samy Vellu stunned the party when he dropped his long-time deputy S Subramaniam from contesting in the latter's traditional stronghold of Segamat.

This triggered protest from Subramaniam's supporters, who later staged a demonstration outside premier Abdullah's official residence in Putrajaya.

Meanwhile, Samy Vellu said he does not regret dropping Subramaniam as his replacement Dr S Subramaiam was well received by the people in Segamat.

"I was very happy to note that the acceptance was so great and people were very happy to have him (Dr Subramaniam) as a candidate. He was taken to various places in Segamat and the people, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians, welcomed him with open arms," he added.

He said the people expected a lot and he was confident that with Dr Subramaniam's good credentials, BN would be able to win back the votes they lost in the constituency in 1999.

"We hope to make it better this time and win with a bigger majority with support from all the communities there. There is overwhelming enthusiasm there with this new candidate," he added.

Samy said the choice of candidates was not made overnight but was vetted for the past two months as he considered the qualifications, contributions to the party and the social work done by the potential candidates.