The middle-aged man, who was about to pay his bill at a bakery at Thiruvaniyoor Junction, had a face mask with several pineapples printed on it. So we asked him, whether he was a supporter of the Twenty20? "Yes, yes. This time I'm with the Twenty20," pat came the reply. "Whom did you support last time?" "We have all been with the Left front all these years," he said, leaving with a friend in a hurry.
A few minutes later, we spoke to an autorickshaw driver, someone past 60, at the junction. He was so excited when we asked if Twenty20 was an important player this election. "This time Twenty20 will win Kunnathunadu seat with a margin of 20,000 votes," he said. We asked him which party did he support earlier. "I have voted only for the Congress except once when a friend contested as an LDF candidate," he said.
Civic polls as launch pad
Thiruvaniyoor is one of the eight panchayats in Kunnathunadu assembly constituency in Ernakulam district. For the uninitiated, Twenty20 is India's first officially corporate-sponsored political party which is ruling four panchayts in the Kunnathunadu constituency. Started as an NGO backed by the Anna-Kitex Group, Twenty20 evolved to be a political party after its Kizhakkambalam experiment became a success gaining national attention. The party won the Kizhakkambalam Panchayat, where the Kitex Group is headquartered, in the 2016 civic polls. In the 2021 polls, it not only retained Kizhakkambalam but also captured power in three more neighbouring panchayats - Aikkaranadu, Kunnathunadu and Mazhuvannoor. Twenty20 also won nine block panchayat divisions and two district panchayat divisions in Ernakulam district.
Buoyed by the civic polls performance, the party has fielded candidates in eight constituencies in Ernakulam district for the April 6 Kerala legislative assembly polls. The party candidates have been allotted 'pineapple' as the election symbol. Volunteers wearing masks and tee-shirts with pineapple prints are a common sight in Kunnathunadu constituency these days. The man whom we met at the bakery was one among them.
Potent third force
In Kerala's bipolar politics, dominated by the CPM-led Left Democratic Font and Congress-led United Democratic Font, the BJP is often referred to as the third force that can be decisive in at least a few of the 140 assembly seats. In Kunnathunadu, Twenty20 is the third force. Many even see a better chance for them in the elections than the LDF and the UDF. The traditional political formations are not willing to acknowledge it, at least in public. However, they are wary of the potential of the corporate entity, which they term apolitical, to make inroads into the constituency.
The responses of the voters in Thiruvaniyoor must worry them. It's one of the four remaining panchayats in the assembly segment where Twenty20 is yet to make its imprint.
Sukumaran vs Sajeendran vs Sreenijin
In Kunnathunadu, Twenty20 has fielded, Sujith Sukumaran, who worked as a legal faculty at the Presidency University, Bengaluru. Sukumaran is taking on incumbent MLA Congress's V P Sajeendran and CPM's P V Sreenijin.
Sajeendran has been representing Kunnathunadu for the past 10 years. He won the 2011 polls by 8,732 votes while his margin came down to just 2,679 in 2016. Still he exuded confidence that he was all set for a hat-trick. Twenty20 cannot repeat its local body performance in an assembly elections. "Assembly election is a political battle. This is meant to change the government. A local movement doesn't have to do anything in it," Sajeendran told Onmanorama.
Populism to the fore
The Congress MLA said Twenty20 came to power in panchayats by offering a lot of sops to the people, especially women. "Now, they are saying that they would give essential items like rice and sugar at cheap rates like they do in Kizhakkambalam. They won't be able to do that. People would realise it," he said. He also repeated the mainstream parties' charge that Kitex Group launched the party for corporate gains. "In Kizhakkambalam, they need power for getting licences for their factories and other ventures," he said.
The cheap rice and sugar that Sajeendran tried to belittle are not as insignificant as the MLA portrayed when it comes to the Kizhakkambalam model. The Food Security Market at Kizhakkambalam has been providing essential items to the people at half of the market price. The people who have given up their land for development projects get provisions for free from the market.
Action-oriented approach
Twenty20's biggest achievement is the conversion of 72 Scheduled Caste colonies into pretty decent villas, which they have named God's Villa. In 750 sq feet, each villa has two bedrooms, car porch, kitchen, bathroom, toilet, sit-out and a compound wall. It's a combined initiative of the Kizhakkambalam Panchayat and Twenty20. The project seems to have impressed the people who live in colonies in other panchayats too.
"The political parties create their own issues and address those hypothetical issues whereas what we need to really address is the basic issues of the common man. Twenty20 is doing that," Surendran told Onmanorama. He said he joined the organisation as he was impressed by the sustainable development model Twenty20 was implementing in Kizhakkambalam.
He also rubbished the charges that the outfit was an apolitical one saying the mainstream political parties and their think tanks were stuck with age-old political beliefs and theories.
LDF hopes
In Kunnathunadu, the LDF is also facing the Twenty20 heat, but the Left is under the impression that their vote base is intact. "Twenty20 will eat into the vote base of the UDF and the traditional vote bank of the UDF will be split this time. It will ensure our victory," a CPM leader said. On the other hand, the Congress camp believes that there will be a split in the traditional CPM vote base as many are not happy with the choice of Sreenijan, a former Congress leader, as the candidate. It will eventually help the UDF as such disgruntled CPM voters will vote for the UDF, they say.
From the National Democratic Alliance, BJP leader Renu Suresh is contesting in Kunnathunadu. In 2016, BDJS candidate Thuravoor Suresh had garnered 1,459 votes. In 2011, BJP candidate M Ravi had to settle for just 5,862 votes.
Focus on four constituencies in all
The Twenty20 threat to the major fronts in the poll arena is not only restricted to Kunnathunadu. The central Kerala constituencies like Muvattupuzha, Kothamangalam and Perumbavoor are on their priority list. Their strategy is to concentrate on the rural areas of these constituencies which are predominantly agriculture-based regions. Twenty20 volunteers from Kizhakkambalam and other panchayats they rule are trying to influence their relatives in the other constituencies with the party's progress report.
"The booklet they have released is highly impressive. It can influence a section of voters," a Congress source who has been campaigning in various constituencies said. "Twenty20 has attracted the imagination of a number of middle-class families, especially women in constituencies like Muvattupuzha. Congress needs to aggressively campaign in such villages to stop the erosion of its vote base," the leader said.
Other candidates
The other candidates of Twenty20 are: Dr Terry Thomas Edathotty, a consultant Orthodontics at the Lissie Hospital (Thrikkakara); Leslie Pallath, former principal of St Albert's college (Ernakulam); Fort Kochi resident Shini Antony, who runs a fitness centre and conducts physiotherapy training sessions for differently-abled children (Kochi); Chithra Sukumaran in Perumbavoor, Dr Jose Joseph in Kothamangalam, CN Prakash in Muvattupuzha, and Dr Job Chakkalakkal in Vypin.
Dr Jose Joseph, who is contesting from the Kothamangalam constituency, is the son-in-law of Kerala Congress leader PJ Joseph.
