The increase in UMNO membership and registration of new voters from the party is a clear indication that the people in Pagoh are still with UMNO and Barisan Nasional (BN), said acting Pagoh UMNO leader Ismail Mohamed today.

The loyalty of the people in Pagoh for UMNO had not wavered, despite changes in the party leaders.

"Until now, Pagoh UMNO has registered 1,800 new (party) members and also helped to register 2,000 members as voters," he said, and dismissed a claim by Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM) that it had registered 3,000 members in Pagoh.

He told this to reporters after welcoming the visit by national hero Tan Wee Kiong to Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina Kung Yung near here.

Ismail, who is also Bukit Serampang assemblyman, also said he was confident that Pagoh would continue to be under the BN in the next general election and would not take lightly the presence of PPBM, which had set up its first division in Pagoh.

"We feel slighted by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's act (in setting up the PPBM division in Pagoh) with an intention to kill UMNO as prior to this he was a leader and a loyal UMNO member," he added.

He said it was not apt for Muhyiddin to form the new party and then became the division head of the party when there were many people in Pagoh who still loved him. -- Bernama