Ahead of local body polls, Twenty20 chalks out expansion plan

Outfit to field candidates in all wards in Mazhuvannoor and Aikkaranadu panchayats

Twenty20, the apolitical corporate-backed charity outfit that swept into power in Kizhakkambalam panchayat dismantling the game plan of mainstream political parties in the last local body polls, is gearing up to expand its footprint to more local bodies.

The outfit has declared that it will field candidates in all 19 wards in Mazhuvannoor panchayat and all 14 wards in Aikkaranadu panchayat, while contesting in Kunnathunadu and Vengola panchayats is also on its radar. The expansion strategy is apparently based on a study the outfit has conducted.

“The idea is to take the benefit of the Twenty20 experiment to more people in contiguous panchayats. We will retain our distance from religious, communal and political outfits since such a move will stain our credibility,” said Sabu M. Jacob, businessman and chief mentor of Twenty20.

The organisation has already declared its candidates for all 19 wards in Kizhakkambalam panchayat and even claims to have wrapped up its first-round campaign though the elections remain yet to be notified. The candidates for Mazhuvannoor and Aikkaranadu panchayats are likely to be announced at the high-level organisational meeting to be held on Sunday.

“A decision is yet to be made on whether or not to contest in all wards in Kunnathunadu and Vengola panchayats. That along with the candidates for those panchayats will be also be decided by this Sunday,” said Mr. Jacob.

The candidates’ lists are finalised after a four-level process before being placed before the public for final approval. The candidates recommended by a high-power committee, area committee, and ward committee, all made of grassroots-level representatives, are then placed before the 14-member high-power board before being submitted for the approval of the public. In Kizhakkambalam, two candidates were changed based on the feedback from the public.

Twenty20 had won 17 out of the 19 wards in Kizhakkambalam panchayat in the last elections. According to Mr. Jacob, the target this time is to make a clean sweep. He said the organisation would not issue any election manifesto in the panchayat, but would come up with a report card on its hits and misses and reasons behind the misses.

“In the other panchayats we are contesting, we will have a single-line manifesto of making every household peaceful and happy. The idea is to make happiness index the yardstick of good governance,” said Mr. Jacob.