GE14 | Wanita Umno chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil may be popular among her wing's 1.3 million members, but news that she will contest in Bandar Tun Razak has not gone down well with some in the division and Federal Territories Umno.

The division had been pushing the BN leadership to give the traditional MCA seat to Umno, with hopes that Bandar Tun Razak Umno division chief Rizalman Mokhtar would be the candidate.

While they succeeded in wresting the seat from MCA, they are now saddled with an outsider, after Rizalman's chances were torpedoed by his arrest last week.

Unhappiness among the Umno grassroots was best captured by former division secretary Zaharin Mohd Yasin, who in a Facebook posting yesterday, said Bandar Tun Razak was not a dumping ground.

"The Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary seat is not a trash can. We want an Umno candidate from our own division," Zaharin wrote.

Meanwhile, a party insider told Malaysiakini there were concerns that the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal would also be used against the party, should Shahrizat contest.

"We are worried that this old issue would crop up again. We have many issues, but this is big. Urbanites are very familiar with the NFC scandal," the source said.

When queried on this, Shahrizat (photo) responded that the NFC issue had been settled in court.

Read more: Shahrizat set to contest Bandar Tun Razak

People will always find fault

However, Bandar Tun Razak Umno division vice-chief Nor Azman Salehuddin does not foresee any trouble.

"I have gone to the polling districts and no one has said they will boycott (Shahrizat).

"They are not unhappy, they just question why a local from Bandar Tun Razak Umno was not made a candidate, but insyaAllah (God willing), we can smooth things out," Nor Azman said when contacted.

He stressed what is important is that they had succeeded in getting an Umno candidate to stand in Bandar Tun Razak.

"For 35 years we have wanted a Malay Umno candidate in Bandar Tun Razak. Our success (now) is in getting a Malay Umno candidate fielded," he said.

Nor Azman also brushed off concerns about Shahrizat being attacked over the NFC scandal.

"People will always try to find fault with our candidates. Even if we put someone who is even better than the Great Mosque of Makkah, they will say there is a problem," he said.

The NFC scandal involves alleged mismanagement of government loans by Shahrizat's family.

Her husband, Mohamed Salleh Ismail, is the company’s chairperson and their children are directors.

The MACC has cleared Shahrizat of any involvement in awarding the contract and an RM250 million loan to NFC.

Attorney-general Mohamed Apandi Ali also dropped the charges against Salleh due to insufficient evidence.

MCA lost Bandar Tun Razak to then-PKR candidate Abdul Khalid Ibrahim in 2008. Khalid won the seat again in 2013 with a solid 11,832 vote majority.

Shahrizat, meanwhile, would be making an election comeback after sitting out the 2013 election.

She was defeated in her old seat, Lembah Pantai, in 2008 by then PKR debutant Nurul Izzah Anwar.

In the coming election, Shahrizat would likely face PKR's incumbent Tumpat MP Kamaruddin Jaafar, who has been active in the constituency for two years