SG KANDIS POLLS | Three months ago, then-BN chairperson Najib Abdul Razak led the coalition to its first ever electoral defeat in 61 years.

Unshaken by the defeat, Najib today lent his strength to the BN campaign in Sungai Kandis.

He sang praise for the BN candidate Lokman Noor Adam, saying he was an authoritative politician, who is also brave.

"He is a vocal character who is brave in voicing out his opinions. This is the kind of people needed in the (Selangor) state assembly to ensure a mature democracy," Najib told reporters when met in Sungai Kandis today.

Earlier, the former BN chief had joined Lokman and Umno deputy president to visit 10 homes of the less fortunate around Kampung Sungai Kandis.

There he received a warm welcome, albeit not as grand as when he was the prime minister.

Najib said those he met were generational BN supporters, whom he hoped would convince their descendants to remain steadfast with the coalition.

"I ask that their strength and support be passed down to their children and the next generation to continue supporting BN," he said.  

Prior to the walkabout, Najib had spent half an hour at the BN operations room in Sungai Kandis, where he was surprised with yet another birthday cake, celebrating his 65th birthday which fell on Monday.

The Aug 4 by-election sees a three-cornered fight among Lokman, PKR's Zawawi Ahmad Mughni and independent candidate K Murthy.

The Sungai Kandis state seat fell vacant upon the death of incumbent assemblyperson Mat Shuhaimi Shafiei early this month due to complications from lymphoma.

On May 9, Mat Shuhaimi obtained 23,998 votes to win the Malay-majority seat, defeating BN's Kamaruzzaman Johar (11,518), PAS' Mohd Yusof Abdullah (7,573) and PRM's Hanafiah Husin (76).