Ismail, who has been in the Cabinet since 2004, said no one in the Opposition ever met him to submit application letters for development projects even when they met in Parliament.

“I have been in four ministries since 2008 and none of the Opposition leaders ever met me to ask for my help.

“Even when we met in Parliament for coffee and for a chat, none ever met me (to discuss allocations) at all,” he told the audience at an event near Parit 8, Sungai Panjang, here today.

Opposition leaders in Malaysia have reportedly complained about being unable to get allocations for their constituents, especially in the rural and semi-rural areas, which made BN still a popular choice in such constituencies.

Ismail also denied there were restrictions for the Opposition leaders to meet him over development projects as they were still the people’s representatives.

“Anybody can meet me. They’re MPs. The people’s representatives.”

However, when asked whether the Opposition’s applications would get the approval from the Federal Government, Ismail replied: “Meet me first, I can say nothing now.”

Meanwhile, BN candidate Budiman Mohd Zohdi also agreed with Ismail, saying that he could do much more than what his rivals in the Opposition could as he had direct access to the ministers.

“Because I am from BN, I can plead and ask the ministers. That is why we need to defend the Sungai Besar seat,” he said at the same event.