Full-page advertisements highlighting Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s contributions to the Indian community hit major Tamil newspapers yesterday ahead of looming national polls. Holding up a copy of one of the advertisements in Parliament this afternoon, M Kulasegaran (DAP-Ipoh Barat) was less than impressed as the premier was featured dwarfing the leaders of Pakatan-ruled states.

The Pakatan Rakyat leaders, namely Kedah Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak, Kelantan Menteri Besar Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng and Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim were dwarfed by Najib in terms of contributions that were listed out point-by-point in the advertisements.

“These advertisements are in all the Tamil newspapers, do you think the Indian people are silly? All of the sudden you (BN) are interested in the indian community… you cannot lie.

“Who is paying for this? I understand this is being paid by the Prime Minister’s Department and is backed by MIC,” he said.

The portrayal, Kulasegaran (left) said, was unfair as the federal government’s budget was RM250 billion while the budget of all four Pakatan-controlled states only had a combined budget of RM4 billion.

The advertisements in Tamil, under the title: ‘For Indians, what have these leaders specifically done?’ had five columns where each leader’s contributions to the community were listed.

Najib’s contribution filled up an entire column while the other four Pakatan leaders’ contributions could barely fill half their columns.

The newspapers that carried the advertisements were Malaysia Namban, Tamil Nesan, Makkal Osai and Nam Naadu.

Brushing the advertisements aside, Kulasegaran challenged MIC president G Palanivel to debate on the issues plaguing the Indian community.

Speaking to Malaysiakini later, Kulasegaran estimated that the cost of the advertisements was approximately RM50,000.

“They were published on Sunday to maximise the reach to the Indian population. They probably reached 200,000 readers,” he said.