Analysis | Jackfruit falls flat: NDA’s Twenty20 experiment fails to deliver

Kochi: ​The 2026 Kerala Assembly elections were supposed to be the moment the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) finally cracked the code of Central Kerala. By bringing Sabu M Jacob’s Kitex-backed Twenty20 into the fold two months ahead of the poll notification, the BJP hoped to marry its organisational muscle with Twenty20’s ‘corporate governance-model’ appeal and its perceived influence among the Christian minority.

​Party president Sabu didn't just predict a win; he confidently announced a sweep, claiming at least six seats in Ernakulam alone. Instead, the results tell a story of a massive strategic blunder. Twenty20 didn't just fail to win a seat; it witnessed a systematic erosion of its existing base, proving that in politics, 1+1 often equals much less than 2.

​The most damning indictment of the alliance came from Kunnathunad, the cradle of the Twenty20 movement. In 2021, contesting alone, Twenty20 secured a formidable 42,701 votes (27.56%). This time, with the added weight of the BJP’s 7,218 votes from the previous cycle, the math should have trended toward 50,000.

​Instead, candidate Babu Divakaran managed only 40,221 votes. The alliance actually lost over 9,500 votes compared to their combined 2021 tally. This vacuum allowed the UDF’s V P Sajeendran to stage a stellar comeback, polling 70,292 votes and thumping the sitting LDF MLA, V P Sreenijin, by a margin of 21,283. If you can’t hold your own backyard with extra help, the so-called “influence” you boast is a paper tiger.

​The erosion of the vote bank wasn't isolated to Kunnathunad; it was a systemic collapse across every seat the party contested. In Kochi, a seat where Twenty20 and BJP had previously combined for over 30,000 votes, the alliance plummeted to a mere 11,854. A similar disaster unfolded in Vypin, where their combined 2021 strength of 30,247 votes withered away to just 13,637 this time around.

​In Muvattupuzha, where Twenty20 alone had secured 13,535 votes in 2021, the addition of BJP support resulted in a decrease to 9,840 votes. The ‘A-Class’ seat of Kodungallur saw the BJP’s previous 28,204 votes reduced to 23,933 under the Twenty20 banner. Even in Pathanapuram, the experiment backfired spectacularly, as the party managed only 7,031 votes, a sharp drop from the 12,398 the BJP secured there on its own in the previous election. Other figures further highlight the struggle, with the party managing only 7,380 votes in Thiruvambady, 17,993 in Ranni, 12,679 in Thodupuzha, and 7,837 in Trikaripur.

​The gamble with celebrity candidates 
​The alliance’s reliance on star power turned into a social media punchline. The public effectively swiped left on candidates who brought Instagram followers but lacked political gravitas.

In ​Thrikkakara, Bigg Boss fame and YouTuber Akhil Marar was expected to convert screen time into ballot papers. He failed miserably, securing only 21,424 votes. Considering the BJP and Twenty20 combined for nearly 30,000 votes in 2021, Marar’s candidacy represented a 30% shrinkage in the base. Meanwhile, Uma Thomas decimated the field with a massive 50,211-vote majority.

​Tripunithura was perhaps the NDA’s biggest tactical error. In 2021, the BJP’s K S Radhakrishnan polled 23,756 votes. Handing this seat to Twenty20’s Anjali Nair was a slap in the face to local BJP workers. Anjali’s campaign became a troll magnet, specifically her bizarre attempts to equate the Lotus and the Jackfruit symbols. She finished with 29,471 votes, a negligible gain that proved celebrity status couldn't replace a seasoned political face. This clearly favoured the UDF’s Deepak Joy, who otherwise would have lost many Congress votes to the Twenty20.

​The story was no different in Ettumanur, where social media figure Athira received 12,975 votes, failing to even reach the 13,746-vote mark the BJP established in 2021.

​Why the corporate miracle bankrupted
​The failure of Twenty20 in the NDA can be distilled into three sharp critiques. Twenty20’s initial appeal was that it was ‘apolitical’ and focused on development. By joining the NDA, it shed that neutrality, alienating the neutral and Christian minority voters it once commanded. These voters didn't stay with the alliance; they shifted decisively to the UDF, which is clearly visible in Kunnathunad and Thripunithura results.

​The BJP cadre in seats like Tripunithura felt betrayed. Handing over high-performing seats to a corporate-backed party led to silent voting or outright inactivity by the grassroots workers who believed Twenty20 was given more consideration than it deserved.

​Poor candidate selection was another flaw that put the alliance in trouble. The controversies surrounding the candidature of actresses Veena Nair and Lakshmipriya, who later had to back out due to non-enrollment in voters list, and the failed celebrity experiments, the party's roster lacked local credibility.

The 2026 election has exposed the limits of Kitex’s political venture. When Twenty20 functioned as a local development alternative, it was a threat. As an NDA satellite, it became a liability. Sabu M Jacob’s attempt to play kingmaker has instead resulted in the party becoming a footnote, proving that in the complex landscape of Kerala politics, you cannot run a democracy like a corporate entity. The ‘Jackfruit’ has fallen, and it didn't even make a sound.