Twenty20 party, floated by garment major KITEX group, will become part of the NDA in Kerala, giving a boost to the electoral prospects of the BJP-led alliance in the next Assembly elections.
The decision was announced jointly by BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar and Twenty20 president Sabu M Jacob, also MD of KITEX. Sabu will share the stage with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to the state capital to unveil the development plan of the BJP-ruled city corporation, a promise made by the BJP during the local body elections.
Twenty20, which hit headlines in 2015 by winning the panchayat of its hometown Kizhakkambalam, has managed to retain the local body for the third time in the elections in 2025. At Kizhakkambalam, the Congress, CPI(M) and BJP had fielded common independent candidates in several wards with the sole aim of defeating Twenty20. However, the party weathered the collective attack from the leading fronts. The arm of the business group highlighted development and welfare schemes implemented at the party-ruled panchayats, where it claimed to have eliminated corruption.
Apart from Kizhakkambalam, the party now rules another panchayat and has emerged as the single largest party in another local body, which are part of the Kunnathunad Assembly constituency now represented by the CPI(M).
The presence of Twenty20 in the last Assembly elections at Kunnathunad worked in favour of the CPI(M), as the party floated by the garment group split the Congress’ traditional votes. The BJP is not a key player in Kunnathunad. With Twenty20 in its fold, the BJP can now open a new battleground in Ernakulam district. Twenty20 had contested the Assembly elections in 2021 in a few seats in Ernakulam, but the party could not repeat its performance in the local body elections of 2020.
Sabu formed twenty20 and fought elections at Kizhakkambalam panchayat in 2015 as a culmination of the long standing fight with local Congress, which had ruled the panchayat over years. He had locked horns with Congress over matters related to his KITEX garment unit. In the 2021 assembly elections, Congress lost Kunnathunadu, where Twenty20 had eaten to its traditional vote bank. His good rapport with CPI(M) faced setbacks over his soured relation with CPI(M) MLA P V Sreenijan, which eventually took him to launch a new garment unit in Telangana. Twenty20’s strength has been people who are fed up with the mainstream political parties and the maladies associated with them. It has been seen how workers would react to the decision of an apolitical party to align with BJP. Various Christian denominations have significant presence in Kizhakkambalam and nearby panchayats, which fall under Kunnathunadu assembly seat. It has to be seen whether the decision will go down well with the community.
