OJ's Corner-VS all the way.

The 83-year-old non-English-educated V S Achuthanandan has proved his mettle. Today he was returned to the Kerala Assembly with 20,000-plus majority. Now no one can keep him away from Chief Ministership. Not even the high-profile politburo, which will meet in Delhi on May 13. There cannot be much haggling about VS' Chief Ministership. Therefore, his bete noires within the party would try to heckle him by cornering plum posts in the Cabinet. VS could then be hamstrung with heavy weights from the rival group.

Today's election results have been a glorious treat for him. The LDF has cornered 98 seats, while the UDF got only 42 seats.

Last time, the situation was almost the reverse. In Kerala, governance is something like a hide-and-seek alternative- term play for the UDF and the LDF.

The mystery is about the fall of great leaders in the UDF-K.R.Gowri Amma, M V Raghavan, R.Balakrishna Pillai, P.K.Kunhalikutty, E.T.Mohamed Basheer, T M Jacob, P P Thankachen and the like.
"What a great fall it is my countrymen?", one would ask about the candidates of DIC(K) which had tie-up with the UDF. Vetern Karunakaran's tricks recoiled on him and his party.

His son K.Muraleedharan and all other 17 candidates, except one, were trounced flat. The lone winner was not one who had walked off the people's mandate earlier.

Those who worked for reconciliation between DIC(K) and the UDF also tasted humiliating defeats like Kunhalikutty, Mohamed Basheer and T M Jacob.

UDF has some relief in the victory of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy in Puthuppally, K M Mani in Pala and the like.

P J Joseph tasted victory in Thodupuzha. IAS-turned Alphons Kannamthanam also emerged victorious in the three-cornered fight in Kanjirappally. The victory of Thomas Isaac and M A Baby of the CPM speaks volumes for their winnability in spite of great criticism on many fronts.

Now it is over to Achuthanandan and his team to practise what they preached all these five years last.