Khairy, the health minister, will be fielded in Sungai Buloh, while finance minister Tengku Zafrul will contest the Kuala Selangor seat.
Azmi Hassan of Akademi Nusantara said Selangor BN needed a confidence booster to face Pakatan Harapan (PH), which had been dominant in the state for the past three elections.
He said the nomination of Khairy and Tengku Zafrul, which he described as BN’s “new offer” to voters, would show that the coalition was determined to do well in the state.
“This is similar to how Anwar Ibrahim’s candidacy in Tambun has given PH fresh impetus to capture Perak,” he said.
“This is not just BN’s strategy for GE15 but also a sign that it wants to recapture Selangor at the next state election.”
PH has decided not to hold simultaneous state elections with the parliamentary elections in the three states that it controls – Selangor, Penang and Negeri Sembilan.
In the last general election in 2018, BN won only two of the 22 parliamentary seats in Selangor – Tanjong Karang (Noh Omar) and Sabak Bernam (Fasiah Fakeh).
Fasiah was among the 10 Umno MPs who left the party in December 2018 and is with Bersatu.
Another analyst said that although Khairy and Tengku Zafrul could strengthen BN in Selangor, the duo should be reminded that they were competing in a “PH area”.
Awang Azman Pawi of Universiti Malaya believed that BN was fielding Khairy and Tengku Zafrul to “save” Umno in Selangor, adding that the party had been perceived as “weak” since BN lost the state in 2008.
He also rejected any assumption that BN’s leadership wanted to “kill off” Khairy’s political career, calling it an effort to penetrate PH’s “stronghold” using popular candidates.
Khairy was previously a three-term Rembau MP. That seat is now being contested by Umno deputy president Mohamad Hasan, who wants a role in federal politics.
PKR’s R Sivarasa won the Sungai Buloh seat with a 26,634-vote majority against PAS’ Nuridah Salleh in GE14.
Amanah’s Dzulkefly Ahmad won the Kuala Selangor seat with a 8,498-vote majority against Umno’s Irmohizam Ibrahim.
PKR also bagged the Paya Jaras and Kota Damansara state seats, which are part of the Sungai Buloh parliamentary constituency, previously.
In Kuala Selangor, the party also won the Bukit Melawati and Ijok state seats.