On a winning streak, team Twenty20 mulls innings on a state level, parties worried

Twenty-Twenty is a party floated by a corporate house (Kitex group) that swept power in a tiny village for the first time in the last local body poll in 2015.

Almost all political parties may have teamed up against Twenty20, an apolitical outfit backed by a corporate house in Kochi, but it outsmarted mainstream parties in the local body elections, results show.

A couple were pulled out of the polling station and allegedly bashed up by opponents of the Twenty20 in presence of police and polling officials. (Grab from a sourced video)

Besides sweeping Kizhakkambalam (Ernakulam district), it won many seats in neighbouring local bodies too. Out of 19 wards in Kizhakkambalam it won 18 and emerged victorious in many seats in Aikaranadu, Kunnathunadu and Muzhavannur panchayats.

“There were many attempts to run us down. More than 500 people were not allowed to vote by our opponents. We dedicate our victory to the people who elected us,” said Sabu Jacob, the chairman of Twenty20. Sabu runs a sprawling apparel factory in Kizhakkambalam. He said this victory made his outfit more humble and responsible and he did not rule out his party’s entry in assembly elections due in four months.

During the polling day, some of the booths in Kizhakkambalam witnessed violence after a section of workers stopped activists of the Twenty20 alleging they were outsiders. A couple were pulled out of the polling station and allegedly bashed up by opponents of the Twenty20 in presence of police and polling officials. The video of the attack on the couple later turned viral in social media.

Twenty-Twenty is a party floated by a corporate house (Kitex group) that swept power in a tiny village for the first time in the last local body poll in 2015. Its winning streak is hard to digest for many political parties that see it as a major irritant.

This time there were many attempts to pull it down and in a few seats parties put up joint candidates against the corporate backed outfit but they failed to stop its surge, results show.

Twenty20 has proven to be able administrators if the results in the semi-agrarian panchayat in Kizhakkambalam, home to 36,000 residents, are an indication. Houses for the needy, free wifi connection, better medical facilities, nutritional food for carrying women and wedding gifts to girls are some of the highlights of their governance.

When Union minister Nitin Gadkari visited the panchayat to open a food security market in 2017, where edible items were sold at half the market price, he was bowled over and sanctioned Rs 42 crore to develop roads in the village. “Kizhakkambalam is a role model. We should replicate it in the whole country,” the minister had said.

Though villagers are upbeat, the politicians are not amused. There were many attempts to split the party but it withstood pulls and pressures.