KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 16 — Umno has plans to take over the whole of Kelantan and not just one state seat, Khairy Jamaluddin said today in the wake of criticism from Malay rights group Perkasa.

The youth and sports minister told reporters that Umno did not exist solely to contest one seat in Kelantan after Perkasa slammed the Barisan Nasional (BN) party for mulling to sit out the Chempaka by-election.

“Does Umno exist in Kelantan solely for the purpose to contest Chempaka?” he said.

“Umno exists to contest every area of Kelantan, the whole state,” Khairy added.

Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali hit out at Kelantan Umno yesterday, saying the Malay party might as well dissolve and merge with political foe PAS, or become a non-governmental organisation to deal with flood issues in the northeastern state.

The Chempaka state seat fell vacant after its assemblyman Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat died last Thursday.

Nik Aziz first joined PAS in 1967 before going on to win the parliamentary seat of Kelantan Hilir in 1969.

He kept the seat until 1986, even after it underwent a name change to Pengkalan Chepa.

He had a stint as Semut Api assemblyman in Kelantan, before serving the state assembly seat of Cempaka since 1990 until his death from prostate cancer.

He was also Kelantan mentri besar for 23 years, the second longest-serving state leader in the country after former Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Taib Mahmud who served 33 years from March 1981 to February 2014.