- 16 minutes ago
In a sharp political attack ahead of key electoral contests, Congress leader Sachin Pilot alleged that the BJP and the ruling Left Democratic Front share a tacit understanding that benefits both sides. Pilot claimed the arrangement suits both Narendra Modi and Pinarayi Vijayan. “It suits the PM to have the same CM. It suits the CM to have the same PM,” he said. Taking aim at the BJP’s position in the state, Pilot said the party has “zero MLAs” and is not in a position to form a government in Kerala. “They know that they can’t form the government here. The next best alternative is to stop the Congress and allow the LDF to have a third term,” he said. He also questioned the candidates fielded by the NDA, claiming several were unlikely to win and were instead aimed at dividing votes.
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00:00Last few hours of campaigning in Kerala, the state votes in a few days from now on April 9th.
00:06And we've got with us AICC observer for Kerala and Congress leader, Mr. Sachin Pilot.
00:11Mr. Pilot, namaskaram, first of all.
00:14You've had a busy few days here in Kerala. How's it going?
00:17It's going very well. I think our campaign has been quite successful.
00:23And I'm of the opinion that the people of the state of Kerala have decided that it's time for change.
00:29And I think when results come out, you'll see us getting a solid majority to form a government.
00:35You know, there's been, and I think a few months ago, everyone kept saying winds of change sweeping through Kerala.
00:42It's clearly a verdict that will be in favor of UDF.
00:45Things seem to have changed in the last few weeks.
00:47Then the conversation and the narrative became, this is a tough fight for the UDF, that the LDF is going
00:52all out.
00:53So is this going to be down to the wire?
00:54Everybody fights elections to win. But just look at the track record.
00:58The UDF got all but two seats out of 20 in the last looks of elections.
01:03The local body elections, historically, any party that wins the local body elections goes on to win the lands of
01:09elections.
01:09And we won by a huge majority.
01:11It wasn't a neck-to-neck fight in the local body elections, municipality, but jet elections.
01:15So that, given the fact that it's been 10 long years, I think last time an election happened, there was
01:21all these issues of COVID and so on and so forth.
01:23That was a different election.
01:24But now, if you look at the last 10 years track record of the current government, of LDF, of the
01:29chief minister, suffice to say that it's been a lost decade.
01:33And I keep saying this everywhere. It's 10 years have gone by. It's a long time for anyone to have
01:37proven their point or done justice to be majority that they got.
01:40So I think people are now really tired of it and they want to give a befitting reply to what
01:45they've experienced last 10 years.
01:48And we, on the other hand, have been quite positive.
01:50I mean, I'm critical because I'm in the opposition. It's my job to list out the faults and the problems
01:54of the government.
01:55But we've also been quite positive.
01:58Rahul Gandhi ji gave the five guarantees in Kerala.
02:00And we have a budget, a manifesto that has budgeted into the next five years of our roadmap, of our
02:08blueprint of what you want to do in the state.
02:10So we are going with a very positive outlook.
02:12And with all humility, I might add that we have fought as a very strong team and our allies in
02:18our party are really on the ground.
02:20And without sounding overconfident, I have to say that we believe that we form a government and that will be
02:26a role model government for next five years.
02:28You know, some would argue that the state of Kerala has been a role model for the rest of the
02:32country.
02:33You look at the literacy rate, of course, much talked about.
02:35The fact that you see Kerala, healthcare-wise, leading again, healthcare model that the country talks about.
02:42Sometimes the world, poverty-free, first to be declared that.
02:46So then you would think that on all the right, on all the parameters, they've got the tick there.
02:50You see, now that's a good point, you guys.
02:53You're comparing Kerala to other states in India? Fair enough.
02:56But what about people who live here?
02:57So we've been in government along with the LDF every five years for the last 50 years, right?
03:02So there's been rotational governments and everyone has worked, I suspect, for making Kerala what it is today.
03:07But look at what people of Kerala expect.
03:10The young people living in this state are really used to the lives they have.
03:15But they have a little bit more ambition, a little bit more dreams that they want to achieve.
03:21And given that standard that we've got in the state, last 10 years, if you just look at the number
03:26of people who are leaving Kerala,
03:28not just for better opportunities, but because of lack of opportunities.
03:31And I say, look at the data, unemployment, for example.
03:35For people below the age of 30 years, the unemployment rate, government data, is 29% in Kerala.
03:41It's more than double the national average.
03:43For women under age of 30, it's 47%.
03:46So you have literacy, you have talent, you have aspirational young people, but no jobs.
03:52So I constantly hear this narrative that BJP is the B team of the LDF.
03:57The LDF says the BJP is the B team of the UDF.
03:59It's all bizarre.
04:01A BJP Congress A team B team, a BJP left A team B team.
04:06I mean, come on.
04:07It sounds like rhetoric and nothing beyond that.
04:10Okay, look at the facts, for example.
04:12When 2014, the BJP came to power, what is the first thing the BJP said?
04:17We want to make a Congress Mukt Bharat.
04:20They never said a Communist Mukt Bharat.
04:22But that's because you're the principal.
04:24In the last 10-12 years of India government, the leaders and the party that's been targeted, whether it's Rahul
04:30Gandhiji, Sonia Gandhiji, all our top leaders, CBI, income tax, bank accounts, any allegation, court cases, against only the Congress
04:38party?
04:38Which left leader has been targeted by the BJP?
04:41You could argue that for the DMK, they're your ally.
04:43No, of course there have been cases against DMK people also.
04:46But nationally speaking, and what also comes to the fore is the fact that when this Indo-U.S. deal
04:53happened and Donald Trump kind of forced India to come to an agreement about the trade deal, about agriculture, about
05:00energy security, usually the left party leaders would make a huge, you know, human cry about the U.S. policy
05:06and economic policy and foreign policy.
05:09This time they've kept quiet.
05:11It was the Congress and Raul Gandhiji, inside, parliament and outside, opposing what we think is very, very harmful and
05:16detrimental for our farmers, sugarcane farmers, soybean farmers, cotton farmers, soybean farmers.
05:21The left party kept quiet.
05:23So they don't oppose the BJP because they think that they're, in the short run, helpful for the BJP to
05:29stop the Congress from coming to power in Kerala.
05:32So a vote cutter you're suggesting, essentially.
05:34Well, not vote cutter.
05:35Are you suggesting that you oppose Kerala?
05:37BJP has zero MLAs in the state.
05:38Yeah.
05:39They have some vote share, but zero MLAs.
05:41They know that they can't form the government here.
05:43Next best alternative is to stop the Congress, is allow the NDF to have a third term.
05:47So I keep saying this everywhere.
05:48It suits the PM to have the same CM.
05:51It suits the CM to have the same PM.
05:53And then you see the list of candidates they put up, the NDA.
05:56All the candidates are some people who are not going to win elections, but are trying to reduce the votes
06:02that their Congress UDF candidates get.
06:04So it's people of Kerala are very smart.
06:06They understand what's going on.
06:07It's not about the CM alleging that Rahul Jinn and BJP are tied together.
06:10That's the most laughable comment I've ever heard.
06:14But I do know that the current Chief Minister has a corruption case pending in Supreme Court that has been
06:18deferred 37 times in the last 10 years.
06:22Now, if all this happens, it can't be a coincidence.
06:25And therefore, it's for people to judge who's cozying up to which powers and who benefits from praising and denouncing
06:31other political parties.
06:32I think people of Kerala are quite smart.
06:34You know, what also stands out for me is the fact that both parties, where they constantly refer to the
06:38BJP, makes them sound like a very important political player in Kerala.
06:42The thing is, the BJP got some votes in the Parliament elections, even though they only had one seat out
06:47of 20.
06:48But they polled votes.
06:49Now, the question is, those votes will not go to the BJP in a state election.
06:53Because voters know that the BJP has no future of ever forming a government here.
06:58So, where will those votes go?
07:00Now, the attempt by the LDF is to somehow get those votes to them so they can have a third
07:05-term government, which is not going to be possible.
07:07Because they stand exposed in terms of their own, the kind of governance that the Chief Minister has provided.
07:12And you see all over Kerala, there's only one hoarding, one picture, one photograph.
07:17There are no party symbols, there's no LDF readers photograph, just one man, one photograph, one hoarding, all across.
07:23And I ask the question, why spend hundreds of crores if your government has done so well, is so popular,
07:29that you will get voted?
07:30Then what is the point of spending hundreds of crores, rupees, in doing all this publicity and this posters and
07:35hoarding and stuff?
07:36No, that's election urine, right?
07:38That's the election mechanism.
07:39If the track record was so impeccable and people were so happy with the government, they won't have to spend
07:44so much money in doing all this publicity that they're doing right now.
07:46So the flip side to that is maybe Pinaray Vijayan has such goodwill that, you know, they're advertising him.
07:51They're putting the spotlight on him because Pinaray Vijayan is loved among the people of Kerala.
07:55That's why he's lost the local body elections.
07:57He lost the parliament elections twice, convincingly.
07:59And all he's done is really is accuse Rahul Gandhiji.
08:03Because the more he accuses Rahul Gandhiji, the happier the Prime Minister gets.
08:07The BJP also loves hearing, you know, the Congress being, you know, alleged upon.
08:11But I think more important are people's issues.
08:14Forget this rhetoric that you mentioned, you know, this allegation.
08:16But on the ground, the governance, the unemployment rates, the inflation rates, the bad fiscal management.
08:23Today, 90-95% of what the government of Kerala borrows as known goes into servicing old debt.
08:30So there's really, and look at the number of people who are leaving earlier.
08:33Traditionally, people had, Kerala people were leaving for blue-collared jobs in Middle East.
08:37Today, the number of people leaving has almost doubled.
08:41And they're not going there to get blue-collared jobs.
08:43They get in there because there's no jobs available here.
08:45So I think in terms of tourism, in terms of industry, wealth creation, capital creation, investments, job opportunities,
08:53we have lagged behind compared to the high standards the state has had for the last six decades.
08:57Sure.
08:58So I'll get into now a bit of a political controversy that's been brewing in the last 24 hours here
09:03in Kerala man otherwise as well,
09:05which is a comment made by our party chief, Mr. Malikar John Kharke,
09:08where he said that the people of Kerala are literate, unlike the illiterates in Gujarat who voted for the BJP.
09:18And so BJP can never come into Kerala.
09:20Essentially, you know, mocking the voters' intellect.
09:23No, I don't think he meant that.
09:25He did make two points that people in Kerala are highly illiterate, which is a fact.
09:30And the other fact is that the BJP will never make inroads here.
09:33There are two facts he stated.
09:34Now, to put it in a context of he was trying to mock someone or something, that's not true because
09:38he's a very experienced man.
09:40I mean, if you call Gujaratis illiterate.
09:42I don't think he meant to say illiterate in that sense.
09:44He was saying that Kerala people are intellectually very savvy and they will not allow the BJP to enter the
09:50state,
09:50which is a matter of fact and there's no two ways about it.
09:53Because here's what the Home Minister told me earlier.
09:56He said that this is the Congress trying to create a regional divide.
10:00This is the Congress insulting the intellect of voters, insulting crores of Indians and all those,
10:06not just Gujaratis, but all those who vote for the BJP across the country.
10:09I'll just say this much.
10:10The BJP must look within.
10:13Are they not the ones who are doing politics in the name of language, in the name of education, in
10:20the name of religion,
10:21trying to do CAA, NRC, SIR, now amending the FCRA in Parliament.
10:30All these things are done with the prism of religion and division.
10:34They're not doing it for equitable sort of growth for the country.
10:37You can make speeches, but people actually watch your actions more than your words.
10:41You can make long speeches on a public platform, but your actions speak otherwise.
10:45So I think last 10 years, there's a clear, tangible data of the governance that BJP has provided.
10:54It has been a political division, whether it's North-South, Hindu-Muslim, linguistic,
11:00Northeast, Manipur, we all saw.
11:02So I think it's not a party that can really pontificate to other people about how India has won and
11:08we should remain united.
11:09There are many false lines that India had earlier, which have become much larger in the last 10 or 12
11:14years.
11:14So I think the BJP should first look within.
11:16It's okay to get majority and be in government, but your constitutional moral responsibility is to be not just seen
11:24to be neutral,
11:24but to act neutral, to live by the constitutional values we have in this country, to make sure our constitutional
11:30bodies are independent and unbiased.
11:32And the functioning is not questioned.
11:34Today, almost every constitutional body is undermined.
11:36And the government in Delhi has used all the brute force that it has to quell the voice of the
11:43opposition,
11:44to use all agencies to kind of subjugate the voice of what the opposition thinks we should be saying.
11:50And you see it in parliament, you see it outside.
11:53So really, I think introspection is to be done by the BJP.
11:56Since we're talking politics of polarization, the one state that's seen it the most right now is Assam,
12:01which is also voting this week.
12:04The constant, you know, I started off referring to Kerala as maybe a fight that goes down to the wire,
12:10I don't know, but a close fight it seems as of now.
12:12In Assam, is it going to be a close fight?
12:14Because the suggestion seems to be that, you know, the decks are cleared for a month or a return.
12:18How you use the narrative according to what, you know, what people want you to think.
12:26But here's what I'm saying to you.
12:27In Kerala, no matter what anybody says, the UDF will get a thumping majority.
12:33It won't be a narrow majority, a solid majority.
12:37I'm saying that to you with all the responsibility of my command.
12:39May 4th.
12:40Without being immodest, because I've seen, I've traveled, I've met not just the leaders, but the actual voters who will
12:46actually go out car.
12:46I met women, old women, youngsters, you know, around tea stalls and, you know, in rural areas, in urban areas.
12:53So there's a wind of change.
12:54It's quiet.
12:55It's not there for you to gauge within a couple of days, but it's there.
12:58The undercurrent is there.
12:59In Assam, sadly, what has happened is many things have happened.
13:03Poaching of our leaders deliberately before the elections.
13:06The delimitation done was very, very questionable.
13:09It has been challenged in the courts, but, you know, it's not going anywhere.
13:12And the kind of politics that the chief minister of Assam is doing, I think it's, it's, he's doing a
13:18great disservice to the state of Assam.
13:20Assam is always known for a state that invite all cultures and religion, but he's been at a point, I
13:25mean, very blatantly.
13:26And I think, immorally, you know, this Hindu-Muslim divide, the kind of memes and videos he's put out, the
13:32kind of things he's said, it's unbecoming of any elected leader, let alone a chief minister.
13:38Then the new, new acquisitions that have come out against the chief minister, he's not responded yet.
13:44If any allegation, when he's making allegations against Gaurav Gogai and his wife.
13:48No, you're referring to the one about his wife having multiple passports.
13:51I'm saying all these controversies that are coming up today, when you're making allegations against somebody, you're very happy to
13:58do it.
13:58When someone has found some data that needs to be verified and be questioned against you, then I see him
14:04getting all angry and all, you know, why do you want to do this?
14:06Because he's threatened to file a defamation case. He says all of this is untrue.
14:09But he should do it now. Who's stopping him? Who's stopping him?
14:12But you say all this is false, fine, prove it.
14:15But when he's calling Gaurav Gogai's wife, Pakistani agent, all sorts of name, name calling, when they do name calling
14:23and, you know, mudslinging, it's okay.
14:25But when you have actual data and facts that are there and we are, and Pawan Khed, I said that
14:29you can file a court case against me if you want to.
14:32So I'm saying politics of Assam was never like this.
14:35Winning and losing is part of the game.
14:37But I think we have a very good team there.
14:39We are working, we have a young man who's been put as party president.
14:41And the fight will be a close fight.
14:44And I think I, to my mind, I've been there for a few days.
14:46There is also a very large sentiment that favors the change.
14:50Again, 10 years, BJP is in government.
14:52And what do they say?
14:54Gospaitee, you know, people from Bangladesh.
14:57They say you back.
14:57Hang on, hang on, fine.
14:59For 12 years, government of India is BJP government.
15:02For 10 years, Assam government is BJP government.
15:05BSF, army, defense ministry, home ministry, chief minister, prime minister, all BJP.
15:1010 long years have happened.
15:12How many people have they kicked out of the state?
15:13They say they need five more.
15:15You can keep saying that.
15:17I'm saying 10 is a long number of years for anyone to have picked up those illegal immigrants
15:21who are staying in the country.
15:22And by the way, for the record, anybody staying in my country who is illegally here
15:26needs to be leaving, has to be kicked out.
15:29I have the data when Manmohan Singh was in government.
15:32We, I think, deported many thousands more than the BJP has done.
15:37But they use Guzpatia in Bihar, Maharashtra, Assam, wherever there's direction.
15:41They say Guzpatia, Guzpatia infiltrators.
15:43But what have you done?
15:44If you are the government, you are the state government, you are the BSF and the paramilitary
15:48and the intelligence and the police and the government of the day, then how can you
15:52start blaming Nehru and Hindraji?
15:54They've done nothing.
15:57And whose responsibility is to guard the borders now?
16:01The police in the army?
16:02Yeah.
16:03How can you blame the Congress for the last 10 years?
16:05And even if you say that you did it before, then you will do it.
16:09Who did you say it?
16:10Why didn't you say it?
16:11So I think there are all election time speeches.
16:14We'll have a very good contest.
16:16But I think Congress will come out on top in a sand.
16:18In Kerala, we got a thumping majority.
16:20And Tamalat goes to elections also in a couple of weeks.
16:22Yeah, there I think alliance is very strong.
16:24People have liked the performance of the last 10 years.
16:28I think we should get a similar majority this time.
16:30So you're saying this is your week then?
16:32The Congress is week because Kerala is on the coast.
16:34I'm always hopeful, positive.
16:36And when you work hard, I think no hard work goes to waste.
16:41And people vote on merit, not on some propaganda or some social media or some news coverage.
16:46But people actually see who's doing what.
16:48They're a very good judge of character and have full faith in the voters of this place.
16:52So before I wrap this up, I'll just bring the focus again to Kerala.
16:55And I think there's been a lot of conversation, good or bad, whichever way, about the Kerala story, right?
17:01And I think it's been very divisive in Kerala as well.
17:04What's the Kerala story to you?
17:06And what will be the Kerala story?
17:08You're talking about the film or talking about the politics of it?
17:11The state story, right?
17:13Keep the film away.
17:14I think we'll just keep the state away.
17:15I think the state politics is, it's a small but a very, very diverse state.
17:23I think it embodies what India really is, is a melting pot of all backgrounds, all ethnicities, all religions.
17:32And really what our constitution enshrines is the love and harmony of all of us Indians.
17:38Now, we are Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, later, first we're Indians.
17:44And this state has really become an epitome of how we can live in cohesion and in harmony.
17:50That, to my mind, is the single biggest asset.
17:53I mean, it's a beautiful state.
17:54You know, the backwaters, the mountains, the forest, the trees, the food, the culture.
17:59It's fantastic.
17:59What really sets it apart is the fact that people have lived together, moved on together,
18:06shared each other's, you know, happiness and sorrows.
18:09And that's what really makes a society.
18:10So, I'm very proud of the people of Kerala, what they've done as a state, as a society.
18:15I think they deserve nothing but the best.
18:16And I hope that they will give us a chance to serve them for the next five years.
18:20It just so happens that you've completely contradicted exactly what the film showed.
18:24I've not seen the film.
18:25I have not seen the film.
18:27I don't want to also.
18:28Okay.
18:28Thank you so much.
18:29All the very best to you, Mr. Pilot.
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