Deputy prime minister Najib Razak's wife has jumped to the defence of her husband, calling opposition accusations levelled against him as "lies, baseless and immoral".

"I know my husband very well. He is not that sort of person," said Rosmah Mansor at a campaign function in Batang Berjuntai yesterday.

"Many lies are hurled at him ... my family and I always seek God's guidance to have a strong will to face these lies," she said.

She also said that Najib was a good husband and a good leader who would never bring disrepute to his family or government.

"Whatever the opposition wants to say, let them say it. They will receive their 'reward' from god," she added.

She advised the Ijok voters not to be taken in by all that the opposition say.

"Don't vote for people who like to lie," she said.

'I don't know her'

Meanwhile, in another function, Najib said that he had never met Mongolian national Altantuya Shaaribuu whose gruesome murder sent shockwaves through Malaysia last October.

Najib's close ally, political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda is implicated in the murder of the 28-year-old woman, and is facing trial with two elite police officers, also said to be part of Najib's security unit.

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has linked Najib to the murder and had vowed to expose more on this and other alleged corruption involving Najib in the by-election campaigns.

"I have only seen pictures of her in the media," Najib said in his campaign last night.

Many voters whom malaysiakini met at both the functions yesterday did not believe that Najib had any links with the murder.

Campaign promises

The Ijok by-election sees a straight fight between BN's MIC candidate K Parthiban, 38, and Parti Keadilan Rakyat's Khalid Ibrahim, 61.

However, political analysts see this by-election as a proxy battle between Najib and Anwar.

Najib has been spearheading the BN campaign in this tiny constituency, bringing in immediate development projects to uplift this Malay-majority constituency.

Even at the function yesterday, Najib announced a RM300,000 allocation to upgrade the Kampung Bukit Badong mosque in Batang Berjuntai. Earlier in the day he promised a RM800,000 allocation to a local Chinese school as well.

On the other hand, Anwar has been the main attraction for the opposition campaign, drawing thousands of people wherever he gives a ceramah.

The Ijok by-election on April 28 is held following the sudden death of BN representative K Sivalingam on April 4.