He said he only responded to them by saying: “Najib is sitting in jail! Rosmah will sit in jail!”, referring to the former prime minister and his wife.

Najib is currently serving a 12-year sentence for abuse of power, criminal breach of trust and money laundering.

“I didn’t direct my response at anyone in particular in the crowd. I was responding to those who accused me of insulting women,” he said in a one-minute video.

The Amanah president said he was provoked by BN supporters not once but twice as he walked past them.

“When I came out of the nomination centre, a group of them shouted profanities at me. I just walked past them and headed to where Pakatan Harapan (supporters) were gathered.”

Mohamad, also known as Mat Sabu, said he was again on the receiving end of vulgarities when he walked past the coalition’s supporters 15 minutes later after the police and Election Commission officers wanted to meet all the candidates.

Earlier, Berita Harian reported that Mohamad lost his cool during the nomination process and got into an “argument” with BN’s supporters.

Mohamad will be defending his Kota Raja seat in an eight-cornered fight in the general election (GE15). His opponents include three independent candidates.

He will go up against Fahmi Bazlan Muda (Pejuang), Diah Baharun (Perikatan Nasional), D Kajendran (BN), Sarah Afiqah Zainol Arif (Parti Rakyat Malaysia), P Raveentharan (independent), S Surendhar (independent) and K Kumar (independent).

In the last general election (GE14), Mohamad beat PAS’ Diah Baharun by 71,142 votes.