The untold story in Kerala panchayat elections - Kizhakkambalam village panchayat, a quiet village in Kochi, is now "owned "by Kitex Garments!! The party floated by the company Kitex garments 20/20 - wins 17 out of the 20 seats.

This brings some interesting questions to the fore apart from the extreme dissatisfaction with existing political parties. Does Kitex Lungi become part of the official dress code for the villagers? Do other lungis get banned? What is next? Alukka's panchayat owned by Allukkas Gold where everyone gets to buy gold at discounted prices? Or a panchayat owned by Hindustan Latex, the makers of condoms?

Extrapolated to the rest of India this can get scarier with Ambani, Adani and Tata villages. Why buy politicians when you can buy consumers in bulk?

But to be fair, Kitex, the "sponsors" of the panchayat have made some substantial infrastructure investments in the village and have fielded local candidates with clean, secular profiles, with an Aam Aadmi like vetting process to select candidates. All said and done, it is an innovative experiment worth watching.   

Another sub text to the story is whether this is also a lost opportunity for Aam Aadmi Party in Kerala? Does AAP need to reinvent itself in Kerala?

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