The irrepressible VS has proved, once again, that when it comes to election campaign, he is a class apart. The huge crowds that throng his poll meetings testify to his enduring and phenomenal popularity, unmatched by any other political leader who has hit the campaign trail.

And, ironically, the best tribute to VS’s superstar status has come from none other than his former arch rival in the party, Pinarayi Vijayan. While campaigning for VS in the Malampuzha constituency in Palakkad district, Pinarayi openly admitted, perhaps for the first time, that VS was the star campaigner of the party, and that the party has benefited from his ‘mass appeal’. Please ensure that the veteran wins with a clear majority, Vijayan exhorted the people of Malampuzha, in a heart-warming gesture which has electrified the CPI(M) cadres and the leaders alike and sent a positive message to the fence-sitting voters.

Another factor illustrates the point further. His political rivals, including Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, KPCC president, V M Sudheeran and Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, and, last but not the least, the seniormost Congress leader from Kerala and the High Command’s blue-eyed-boy, A. K. Antony, have all singled out VS for their attacks, sparing Pinarayi and others in the process. And, it is conceded even by his rivals, alb eit in private, that Achuthanandan is proving more than a match for the whole band of political rivals with his aggressive, straightforward and no-nonsense campaign style.

It is not as if VS’s stellar role is confined to his being the superstar campaigner. When it comes to discussing and debating issues that have taken the centrestage in this election, VS has clearly put his rivals on the defensive with his incisive and pointed criticism. Among the victims of the veteran’s waspish tongue – it stings badly, admitted a leader belonging to the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) – were Oommen Chandy and Sudheeran, of course. Also at the receiving end of his biting criticism has been Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) general secretary, Vellappally Natesan, who is pulling out all his stops to ensure VS’s defeat by campaigning in VS’s constituency, Malampuzha for weeks!

In his characteristic manner, VS has also managed to wrest the campaign initiative from the UDF, which had managed to put the LDF leaders on the defensive, initially. But Achuthanandan has neatly turned the tables on UDF leaders by managing to bring the issue of corruption and scams bedevelling the Chandy Government back on centre-stage. Ironically, it was Chandy who inadvertently helped VS to regain the campaign initiative e. In his anxiety to score political points against VS, Chandy filed a defamation suit against the veteran accusing him of leveling false allegations against him. It virtually stirred a hornet’s nest! For instance, Chandy said VS has claimed that there were 136 cases against UDF ministers and 31 against himself. As ill luck would have it, the vigilance court in Thiruvananthapuram has rapped the CM on the knuckles for trying to use courts for settling political scores! Emboldened by the embarrassment caused by the court’s observations against Chandy, VS has resumed, beating the corruption-scam drum with redoubled vigour and telling effect. The campaign is going down well with the people of the state, much to the dismay of UDF leaders.

One thing can be said with certainty. If the crowds attending VS’s meetings are any guide, the LDF would win the elections with a clear majority. A clear sign of the nervousness gripping the UDF camp is the latest statement from A K Antony that he would not say that the UDF would secure a majority in the elections. If anything, it is a neck-and-neck fight, a sentiment shared by the KPCC president as well. In an effort to shift the focus away from the corruption theme, Antony is now concentrating his attack on the dangers of the BJP strengthening itself on Kerala’s political soil. But his efforts do not seem to be succeeding. Here again, VS has started leading from the front, rebutting Antony’s and Sudheeran’s criticism, point by point and with clinical precision.

Whatever the result, it could be a win-win situation for VS. If the LDF secures a clear majority, that would further strengthen his claim for the Chief Minister’s post as the LDF victory would be attributed to the tireless and aggressive campaign launched by the veteran. (IPA Service)