PENANG: Only a house separates Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and Barisan Nasional's election operations centres in Bayan Baru here.

And amusingly, a "for sale" sign has been put up at this house in Solok Bukit Jambul.

Penang PKR chairman Datuk Zahrain Hashim said it was a coincidence that the party's centre was near Goh Kheng Sneah's (Barisan's potential candidate for the Batu Uban state seat) centre.

?A member offered his house to us for our election campaign,? he said.

He claimed that someone tried to sabotage the centre?s opening on Wednesday by pulling out the electrical socket beside the gate.

"Our volunteers had to depend on candlelight and streetlamps to put up our posters and banners.

"We have lodged a police report and from now the centre will be manned round-the-clock," he added.

Zahrain, who is likely to contest the Bayan Baru parliamentary seat, which has a 49% Chinese majority, said the party would distribute VCDs highlighting issues in Bayan Baru.

When contacted, Goh said: "Anyone is free to set up his operations centre in Bayan Baru. But what I can't understand is - Bayan Baru is big, why must they set up their centre near mine?"