Dr Mahathir Mohamad has warned his rivals that he too can dig up dirt on them, after two Umno-linked newspapers zoomed in on his granddaughter's purportedly lavish lifestyle.

"In politics demonising people will always be a strategy. The whole idea is to divert attention from 1MDB, RM2.6 billion donation, etc.

"You go and find all kinds dirt to dig it up. I can find a lot of dirt to dig up also," Mahathir said during a press conference at Pakatan Harapan's office in Parliament today.

On Sunday, Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian carried front page news on the lifestyle of the former premier's granddaughter, Meera Alyanna Mukhriz.

Utusan Malaysia published a photograph of Meera on a yacht supposedly named after her, and claimed that the youngster frequently wears designer clothes and lives a jet-setting lifestyle.

Berita Harian, on the other hand, published pictures of Meera and her younger sister Melia Serena on a boat with friends.

Umno supreme council member Nazri Abdul Aziz said yesterday there was nothing wrong with a person flaunting their wealth, so long as that wealth was from halal (permissible) sources.

He added, however, that everyone wanted to know the source of Mahathir’s family’s riches.

“I have asked Mahathir many times how his children became rich when they don’t have business acumen.

“As public figures, people have the right to know where their source of wealth comes from.

"So don’t pretend to fight for the poor,” Nazri remarked.