JAIPUR: Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday expressed confidence that his party will buck the trend of the incumbent dispensation in Rajasthan being voted out every five years and form the government after the November 25 assembly polls.
He alleged that the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party is trying to divert people's attention from the issue of development.
Pilot, who was in Tonk from where he is contesting the elections, said, "The tradition of 30 years in Rajasthan...five years of BJP, five years of Congress...that tradition is about to be broken. People have seen BJP rule at the Centre and they want a change."
"BJP is trying everything to mislead the public but our issue is of development. The party is fighting the elections with unity, so I can say with full confidence that we will form the government in Rajasthan," he told PTI.
The former deputy chief minister said that in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the Congress will return to power with a huge majority. The results in Telangana will shock everyone and the Congress will form the government there as well, he said.
"If our government is formed in these four-five states, the Congress and the INDIA alliance will become stronger. This alliance will win the Lok Sabha elections to be held in 2024," he said.
And, speaking to ANI, the former deputy chief minister said, "While historically, the government here changes every five years, I sense that the mood this time is in favour of the Congress getting a fresh term at the hustings."
Gung ho on the party's chances of repeating its 2018 performance, Pilot said, "From the kind of response I am getting from party workers, people and fellow candidates, it seems that the public mood and pulse is in favour of the Congress. People want to see us form the government again in Rajasthan."
"The people aren't really looking at a change of guard at the hustings. They prefer the return of the Congress," Pilot added.
The Congress has set its hopes on the state bucking the anti-incumbency trend and voting it back.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced several welfare schemes in the run-up to the polls and the ruling party, which had to negotiate a truce amid the festering feud between Pilot and CM Gehlot, is also projecting a united front ahead of the November 25 polls.
The counting of votes for Rajasthan and four other states will take place on December 3.
Amid concerns over the prevailing law and order situation in the state, he said the government ensured the registration of FIRs in cases of 'violence' against women.
"The government is acting swiftly on the reports of violence or sexual abuse on women as compared to BJP-ruled states of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh," Pilot said.
In the 2018 Rajasthan assembly elections, the Congress won 99 seats while the BJP won 73 seats in the 200-member house. Gehlot eventually took the oath of office with the support of BSP MLAs and independents.
(with inputs from PTI, ANI)