Kepala Batas has had the honour of having a string of federal ministers as its representatives, the most memorable being former prime minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
BN leaders have counted on the influence of Abdullah, whom even Pakatan Harapan (PH) leaders acknowledge is still a formidable figure.
Pundits believe his aura will help incumbent MP Reezal Merican Naina Merican retain his seat for another term.
Reezal, 45, is an Umno Supreme Council member and deputy foreign minister.
He won in the last polls against PAS’ Afnan Hamimi Taib Azamudden, getting 53.8% of the votes. The result was, however, humbling compared to the nearly 66% that Abdullah received in 2008.
PH’s Dr Zaidi Zakaria and PAS’ Siti Mastura Muhammad will try to wrest the seat from Reezal in tomorrow’s polls.
However, the entry of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to lead PH appears to have swayed ground sentiments to the opposition, based on the outcome of a small survey in the Umno stronghold.
This was apparent in Penaga, a small agrarian and seafaring town bordering Kedah and Penang.
A Penaga voter said he would vote for the PH parliamentary candidate but would spoil his vote for the state seat of Penaga.
The 59-year-old motorcycle workshop foreman said he would vote for both BN and PAS in the Penaga state seat, following the disqualification of the PH candidate there.
He said many people in Penaga would be using this tactic to show their displeasure with the Election Commission (EC) for disallowing PH candidate Yaakob Osman from contesting.
Yaakob, who is Penang PPBM information chief, was ruled as an undischarged bankrupt when he filed his nomination papers. He claimed he had checked his status only a day before nomination and found no issue of bankruptcy against him.
The Penaga seat will now see a straight fight between incumbent assemblyman Mohd Zain Ahmad and PAS’ Mohd Yusni Mat Piah.
“My friends and I have decided to mark X in both boxes for the state assembly and X for the PKR ‘mata’ logo for Parliament.
“We will be able to tell from the number of spoilt votes how many votes PH would have gotten.”
A fisherman, however, has different plans for polling day. He said he had been an ardent Umno member for more than 30 years. But he intends to vote for PAS in the polls since the PH candidate has been disqualified.
“I will show my defiance by voting for PAS. At least that would be better than voting for BN,” said the 50-year-old who wanted to be known as Pak Jang.
Pak Jang said he stopped supporting Umno once the goods and services tax was introduced and when the government became embroiled in scandals.
“Previously, we used to go to the market to buy fish without even asking the price. We would pick and get it weighed. That is how cheap it was because Penaga is where all the fish are landed.
“Today, the price of ikan kembung in the market is going for RM18 per kg. We can only afford a quarter of that fish.
“I wonder if the federal ministers know how the prices of goods have affected us? They are just sitting in their air-conditioned rooms and talking nonsense on TV3,” he said.
He also claimed federal projects to build homes for village folks in Pengkalan Bongor appeared to have stalled, with one project abandoned for seven years.
“They told us landowners that they would build houses on our land for free. It has been nearly 10 years, nothing has been done. All we hear is that there is not enough money.”
A government-linked company employee appreciated the slew of federal initiatives for youth, but regretted that they never reached rural areas such as Penaga.
“I was a BN voter. Every five years they come here, promise something, but we do not see anything. Penaga is so jammed up.
“All the good programmes by the federal government are going to urban areas. What about us? I am confident that Mahathir will do a better job than Najib.”
A 65-year-old sundry shop owner said he had voted for BN all this while, but had had an epiphany after listening to a talk by Mahathir.
“I heard Mahathir saying that we cannot be surviving on cash handouts all our lives.
“He asked a question that I will never forget: do I want cash handouts or a better country and better life? My choice is to have a better country.”
Click here to get live updates throughout the GE14 season