KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 24 — Pekan MP Datuk Seri Najib Razak has offered to bring his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor to a village in Semenyih if Barisan Nasional (BN) wins the March 2 four-way by-election.

Residents of Kampung Minang welcomed the former prime minister’s offer made last night with cheers, news portal The Malaysian Insight reported today.

"Tonight is very meaningful to me. I have managed to visit Kampung Minang — my wife is also from Minang. But tonight, I did not bring her because of the election campaign,” he was quoted as saying while stumping for BN candidate Zakaria Hanafi in the village last night.

"But if I win, I can bring her to this village. Can or not, ladies and gentleman?” he added, and reportedly was met with cheers and shouts of "can” in reply.

Najib had previously dismissed a taunt from Economic Affairs Minister and PKR deputy president Datuk Seri Azmin Ali who had mockingly expressed his surprise at Rosmah’s absence alongside her husband on the campaign trail and urged the latter to take her with him to Semenyih.

The former BN chairman and ex-Umno president appears to be enjoying a resurgence of support in recent days after his coalition’s shocking defeat in the May 9 general election last year.

Prior to GE14, both Najib and his wife were vilified for their alleged roles in the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) financial heist — dubbed the biggest kleptocracy in the world, though no Malaysian has been convicted as trials have not begun yet.

Najib was also reported to have claimed during the ceramah at Kampung Minang last night that the ruling Pakatan Harapan leaders were now imitating his moves in a bid to gain popularity, only to fail.

"Some people try to imitate me going to Giant but I see no one wants to take selfies with him. In the end, he could only make small talk with the staff.

"We are not forcing people. People came because they wanted to show that they accept what Barisan Nasional has said up to this point. During that time, they did not see the reasoning because of the formidable attacks. We were considered as being in the wrong,” he was quoted as saying.

The rebranded Najib, dubbed "Bossku”, has been increasingly spotted shopping in more budget-friendly places, including hypermarkets like Giant where members of the public have approached him for wefies.