Quoting a source, the Malay daily reported that Khairy had already obtained the “blessing” of Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to return to the party.

This was said to have been conveyed by Zahid to Khairy when the pair attended the wedding of Perlis Umno chief Rozabil Abdul Rahman’s daughter over the weekend.

“When they met, Zahid himself asked Khairy to send in his membership application to return as an Umno member.

“Khairy is expected to help Umno and Barisan Nasional campaign for the Sabah state polls. This could be due to many of the candidates set to be nominated being his friends and in his age group,” according to the source.

The source said BN was also considering fielding Khairy as its candidate for the Kepala Batas parliamentary seat in the next general election (GE16).

Kepala Batas, currently held by PAS’s Siti Mastura Muhammad, had been represented by the late Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the former prime minister and Khairy’s father-in-law, from 1978 to 2013.

BN lost the Umno stronghold for the first time in the 15th general election (GE15) in November 2022, with Siti Mastura defeating former minister Reezal Merican Naina Merican by 2,867 votes.

Separately, an Umno source said the party has yet to receive Khairy’s application to rejoin the party.

Khairy, the former health minister and three-term Rembau MP, was sacked from Umno in January 2023 for breaching party discipline during GE15.

He had been openly critical of Zahid in the lead-up to GE15, especially after BN fielded him to contest the urban Pakatan Harapan stronghold of Sungai Buloh.

Khairy lost the contest to PKR’s R Ramanan by 2,693 votes.

After BN’s weak performance in GE15, its worst in an election thus far, Khairy urged Zahid to step down as Umno president.

He had also refused to appeal his sacking, saying it was pointless since the same people who wanted him out were still with Umno.

However, in July, he said he would “think about” Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh’s offer to help facilitate his return to the party.