In a 90-minute broadcast Sunday, he was criticised by outspoken anti-corruption campaigners, ex-finance minister Ashraf Ghani, and eccentric but popular Kabul lawmaker Ramazan Bashardost, over the alleged deals.

The US embassy in Kabul expressed serious concern to the Afghan government Monday following the homecoming of key Karzai ally, infamous warlord General Abdul Rashid Dostum, 'particularly during these historic elections'.

Ghani, who is running on a campaign of clean governance, job creation and economic development, addressed a final rally of 5,000 in the eastern Nangarhar province, pledging to replace the 'corrupt government with a legitimate one'.

'Karzai will give you food now, but will provide food for 100 years because I will provide jobs for one million people and build one million houses,' the former World Bank academic pledged.

Afghanistan is expected to mobilise all available 300,000 Afghan and foreign security forces in a bid to protect voting centres and counter fears that poor turnout, because of insecurity, could jeopardise the legitimacy of the polls.

The Taliban have threatened to attack polling stations escalating their bid to derail the polls and destabilise the Western-backed government in the impoverished country where 70 percent of the population are illiterate.

NATO deputy commander in Afghanistan, Lieutenant General Jim Dutton, said the success of NATO and US-led military campaigns in southern trouble spots had improved security before the elections by wresting territory from the Taliban.