evidence: They saw the record of public service of his rival pale in comparison with Gotabaya’s results achieved during the civil war years. Gotabaya’s pithy remark in his maiden speech after his victory: "We knew right from the start that the main factor of this election victory is the Sinhalese majority of the country" underlined his strength. It is true Gotabaya cuts corners to get results and in many cases trampled upon humanitarian laws during the Eelam war. There are a number of cases of corruption, cronyism, kidnapping and murder where his name is linked to alleged perpetrators. All these cases have been under investigation for over five years. In not even one major case has he been convicted. Even in the infamous White flag case where Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka accused him of ordering the killing of LTTE leaders who wanted to surrender, he was not found guilty. [...] Gotabaya’s victory with a good mandate has made Sinhalese constituency strong. So Tamils have to rework their strategy afresh to find equitable space, beyond mere whipping up of ethnic passions. Till then there is not much India can do in this traditional area.