The proximate cause for Chandy’s provocation was a speech made by VS at an election meeting in which he said the Chandy government, neck-deep in corruption, had as many as 136 cases against it. The Chief Minister himself led the list with 31 cases against him, VS thundered, prompting a quick response from the CM.

An angry Chandy has threatened to take legal action against VS if he failed to apologise for making false allegations against him. He has also warned VS of making a complaint to the Election Commissioner in case he refused to say sorry and withdraw the offensive comment.

An aggressive Achuthanandan, the battle-scarred veteran that he is, has refused to be cowed down by Chandy’s threat. Not only that. VS has thrown down the gauntlet back to Chandy by daring him to take legal action.

Of course, the Chief Minister is right, technically speaking. As State CPI secretary, Kanam Rajendran put it right, these are all complaints against the CM and his cabinet colleagues. VS may have erred by branding these complaints as cases. But the public perception is that the Chandy government is corrupt to the core, with so many scams – the solar scam, the bar bribery scam, the Pattur land scam, among them - marring its five-year term.

In a way, Oommen Chandy seems to have done VS and the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front)LDF) a favour by threatening legal action. The LDF had gone on the defensive with the UDF leaders launching an all-out offensive accusing the LDF of lacking clarity in its liquor policy.It required a forceful intervention by CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury to save the blushes of the Kerala CPI(M) leaders.

With Chandy warning of legal action against VS, corruption and the scams besetting the Chandy Government are now back in focus, much to the dismay of Chandy’s colleagues and the leaders of Congress’s allies in the UDF and the delight of LDF leaders and cadres.

VS has further twisted the knife in the UDF wound by stating that he is not one to be browbeaten into silence by threats of legal action. VS is on a strong wicket here, having fought legal cases for as long as 20 years, as in the case against former Electricity Minister R Balakrishna Pillai in the Edamalayar case. The verdict saw Pillai ending up behind the bars. Likewise, he is still fighting a case against Industries Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty in the infamous icecream parlour case. That being the reality, CPI(M) sources said it was foolish on Chandy’s part to have thought of scaring VS into silence.

If the CM makes good his threat to take legal action, it would embarrass not only him but also many of his colleagues who are under a cloud of suspicion. It would be tantamount to opening a can of worms with disastrous consequences for the UDF, pointed out LDF leaders and activists. Such a denouement would benefit the LDF immensely, they aver.

Whatever the denouement, the coming weeks could witness a protracted legal battle if the CM goes ahead and launches legal action against VS. Chandcy’s detractors in the Congress are not too happy about the turn events have taken. They think the UDF has lost the edge it had enjoyed so far in the campaign war following Chandy’s tactical blunder on the corruption issue. (IPA Service)