THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Thursday slammed the LDF government in Kerala, alleging its five-year tenure was filled with "scams and deceit".
"All the left front government has done is marketing and propaganda for which crores have been spent. On the ground, the realities are different and people of Kerala are wanting a change," Pilot told PTI.
The Congress party is working on a "positive agenda", and the Chief Minister will be decided by the elected MLAs of the UDF front, Pilot said.
When it was pointed out that all pre-poll surveys have predicted the LDF would be voted back to power and there was no anti-incumbency wave, Pilot said surveys do not reflect the ground realities.
"These are opinion polls. On the ground, the reality is different."
"There is no transparency. no accountablity and the chief minister is functioning like a dictator," he alleged.
Pilot, who is campaigning for the UDF candidates in various constituencies, expressed confidence that the Congress-led UDF would be voted to power.
"The Congress is united...We are campaigning hard."
Pilot, the former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, said the UDF manifesto promises to focus on the next five years on empowering women, bringing in investments to Kerala and creating jobs.
The UDF manifesto has promised Rs 2000 'pension' for homemakers, Rs 72,000 annually to the poor under "Nyay Yojana' and five lakh homes for the underprivileged besides creation of a 'Peace and Harmony' department akin to that run by the Rajasthan government.
The left government has been hit by various scams, including the Gold smuggling case, in which about 30 kg of gold was seized by customs officials from a diplomatic baggage at the Thiruvananthapuram airport last year.
M Sivasankar, principal secretary to the Chief Minister, was arrested in the case after his links with prime accused Swapna Suresh, a former employee of UAE consulate, surfaced.
The Congress in Kerala has alleged corruption in an agreement inked by the state owned KSINC with EMCC, a US based firm, for a deep sea fishing project worth Rs 5000 crore.
The MOU with regard to the project was later cancelled by the government.
Pilot said unlike the left front, the Congress stands for the fishing community, their rights and would protect their livelihood.
It was only during the LDF's tenure in Kerala that the BJP seems to grow, he claimed, adding the saffron party, which won the lone Nemom seat in the 2016 elections, will not be be lucky this time and will lose the constituency, where the UDF has fielded K Muraleedharan (senior Congress leader and son of late chief minister K Karunakaran) to give a tough fight to LDF's V Sivankutty and BJP's Kummanam Rajashekharan.
On the various matters raised by him in Rajasthan eight months ago, Pilot said he was hopeful that the party will act on the issues.
In Rajasthan, where bypolls are to be held in the three assembly constituencies of Churu, Rajsamand and Bhilwara on April 17, Pilot said he was confident that Congress will win all the three seats.
The by-elections are being seen as a mid-term litmus test for the ruling Congress.