Kerala's Twenty 20 party joins NDA for 2026 elections

In a dramatic turn of events, Kerala's Twenty20 party, led by industrialist Sabu M Jacob and backed by his Kitex Group, has formally joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) spearheaded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), ending its isolated political fight in the southern state’s predominantly bipolar politics over the years.

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On Thursday (January 22), the development unfolded as Jacob’s outfit officially joined the saffron alliance, which is aiming to make an impact in Kerala in the upcoming polls, in the presence of the state BJP chief, Rajeev Chandrasekhar. The duo met at the BJP’s state headquarters at Mararji Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram.

Formal entry during Modi's Kerala visit

The party’s formal entry into the alliance will take place in the Kerala capital on Friday (January 23), when Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the state. The development is also significant for Twenty20 since the party has traditionally followed a stance of maintaining equal distance from mainstream political fronts.

Ending political isolationism

Jacob said on Thursday that the decision to join the NDA was a “decisive” one and that much thought had gone into it. According to him, it is difficult to achieve the goal of changing Kerala by remaining alone, and the Twenty20 party thinks that by joining hands with the Modi government at the Centre, the mission to achieve a ‘Developed Kerala’ will become easier.

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It was only recently that Jacob had given a hint about ending the isolation. He told Onmanorama that 90 per cent of the party’s members did not favour staying alone anymore, and this fuelled the paradigm shift, particularly after the results of the local body elections held last December gave birth to apprehensions over the party’s future.

He also called both the Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF), Kerala’s two major alliances, rival fronts, revealing his Twenty20 was jointly targeted by both those blocs.

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Chandrasekhar welcomed the alliance and, by highlighting Jacob’s achievements as an industrialist, criticised the ruling LDF’s industrial policies that he termed less industry-friendly.

All eyes will be now on seat-sharing

According to Onmanorama, Jacob had revealed a plan of his party contesting alone in 50 seats in the state, if the talks of alliance did not pay off. But now, with the alliance firmly in place, the party finds itself in a better position to negotiate for a significant number of seats in areas such as Ernakulam, Idukki and Kottayam. Pathanamthitta and Thrissur districts are also known to be Twenty20’s strongholds.

In the 2021 Assembly elections in Kerala, the Twenty20 fought in eight seats in Ernakulam district and finished third in six of them.