There is no dearth of posters and flags of major political fronts as one entered the coastal panchayat of Chellanam, part of Kochi Assembly constituency, on polling day.
Yet, it is the corporate-backed apolitical outfit Twenty20 which seems to hold centre stage in this idyllic village, seemingly on account of its ability to play serious spoilsport to the prospects of major fronts.
“Both the Left and the Right have been in power for decades and still we have to wade through the seawater that seeps into our houses during high tide with no seawall to stop it,” fumed Kunjachan, a fisherman, without explicitly revealing his affinity while stepping out after casting his vote.
Standing outside the polling booth at St. Mary’s HS at Chellanam, Jomy, a 53-year-old photographer, said that the outfit could poll anywhere between 7,000-8,000 votes. “While it is seen as more damaging to UDF, it is a fact that LDF wasn’t spared either during the last local body polls when Twenty20 bagged 8 wards,” he said.
At the political party booth set up right outside Leo English Medium Public School at South Chellanam, a stone’s throw away from the border with Alappuzha district, UDF activists played down the influence of Twenty20 and pitched the battle as one between UDF and LDF.
“Both LDF and UDF will concede a few votes to Twenty20 but they wont decide the outcome,” said Tomy, a Congress activist. His fellow party activist Preman instead drew attention to the alleged failure of sitting MLA and LDF candidate K.J. Maxy in addressing the drinking water shortage problem, and accused him of worsening the issue. This has forced the resumption of water supply in tanker lorries, a practice which was stopped in the 1990s, he said.
Tony Chammany, Kochi’s UDF, discounted the predictions that Twenty20 may hamper his prospects in Chellanam. “We have focussed on that aspect and educated the voters not to fall for it. That challenge remains neutralised,” he said.
Nirmala, a housewife emerging after voting, seemed to back his point, responding “why would one waste vote for a party that is unlikely to win?”
However, Twenty20 sources have claimed a clean sweep in Chellanam, and are hopeful of bagging over 10,000 votes going by their vote share of about 8,000 in the last local body polls.
