The Twenty20 party, floated by garment major KITEX group, has joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ahead of the upcoming Kerala assembly elections. The move will boost the BJP-led alliance's electoral prospects in the elections due in a few months.
The announcement was made by Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Rajeev Chandrasekhar during a press conference alongside Twenty20 president Sabu M Jacob, also MD of KITEX.
The announcement was made on Thursday, a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Kerala. Sabu is expected to share the stage with PM Modi during his visit to Thiruvananthapuram to unveil the development projects ahead of the assembly polls.
Expansion of NDA's political footprint
PM Modi's visit comes close on the heels of the BJP scoring a historic win in the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation election last month, winning 50 of the 101 seats, and getting its first Mayor of the civic body.
Chandrasekhar claimed that the move was an expansion of NDA's political footprint and its political heft vis-à-vis the coming elections.
Speaking to the reporters, the Kerala BJP president said that the aim was to spread the message of ‘Viksit Keralam’ (Developed Kerala), ‘Vishwas Sanrakshanam’ (Safeguarding Trust) and ‘Surikshit Keralam’ (Safe Kerala) through this alliance, which, according to him, has been put forth by the NDA in the previous 11 years of PM Modi's tenure. He said that the aim was to bring the same level of political development in India.
What is Twenty20?
Twenty20 party hit headlines in 2015 when it won the panchayat in its hometown, Kizhakkambalam. Since then, the party has retained the local body for the third time in the 2025 elections.
The political arm of the KITEX Garments business group has been highlighting development and welfare schemes implemented in party-ruled panchayats, where it claims to have eliminated corruption.
Apart from Kizhakkambalam, the party also rules another panchayat and has emerged as the single-largest party in another local body, which is part of the Kunnathunad Assembly constituency, now represented by the CPI(M).
“NDA receiving support just not from the average Malayali voter but also from many in the political spectrum amongst traditional parties, MLAs and ex MLAs, and today we have the absolute good fortune, and we are extremely happy to have the one party in Kerala that has steadfastly stood for development, which is Twenty20,” Chandrasekhar said.
What does it mean for the BJP?
NDA receiving support just not from the average Malayali voter but also from many in the political spectrum amongst traditional parties.
With Twenty20 in the NDA fold, the BJP is aiming at a new battleground in Ernakulam district. Twenty20 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.
The BJP-Twenty20 alliance will be decisive in at least four assembly constituencies of Ernakulum district and may influence results in a few others, analysts told the New Indian Express. Ernakulum has 14 assembly seats.
