KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 6 — An Umno delegate suggested today the Barisan Nasional (BN) government play hard ball in federal to state dealings with the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) Selangor government, claiming the country’s most-industrialised state made it harder for Malays to conduct business there.

Pandan Umno delegate Datuk Mohd Haniff Koslan told the Umno annual general assembly here that business for Malays was complicated in Selangor since it was ruled by a coalition of three distinct parties.

“I suggest we play hard with them. They have thrown stones at us, so let us throw stones back,” Mohd Haniff said during the debate on the economy motion here.

“Federal government agencies must make it strenuous for them, impose difficult terms on them.”

Mohd Haniff alleged that Malays are sidelined in Selangor whenever they apply for any business or financial assistance.

“There are three parties with different ideologies... When we ask from one, they will direct us to the other party,” he said, referring to PKR, PAS and DAP — the three component parties that made up the PR bloc.

Regaining Selangor had been high on Umno and Barisan Nasional’s list ahead of Election 2013, and the coalition directed key resources in its bid to win back the voters of the country’s most-developed state.

The coalition not only failed to wrest control of the state back from Pakatan Rakyat, but also lost another eight seats to the pact that has allowed it to now dominate the state assembly with supermajority.

Selangor and Putrajaya have also been locked in an ongoing tussle over the state’s water utility since 2008, which saw residents experience massive shortages in the run-up to the general election and attracted allegations of sabotage.

The federal government was adamant that Selangor needed a new RM3 billion water-treatment plant, Langat 2, to prevent the state from experiencing a water supply crisis. The state government, however, insists supply would be adequate if leaks were addressed.

Selangor made repeated bids to buy out the state’s water utility firms that drew no response until September, when Mentri Besar Khalid Ibrahim said the state was close to an agreement with Putrajaya to finalise the proposed takeover.