Local body polls: Experienced in leading people, tour guides enter fray

Contesting as an independent from Karumalloor in Ernakulam, Sanjeev has his share of ideas — gleaned from his experience as a guide — on developing his ward.
Sanjeev, Vijesh and Biju. (Photo | Special Arrangement)
Sanjeev, Vijesh and Biju. (Photo | Special Arrangement)

KOCHI: Who is the best leader? That, perhaps, is the question on the minds of most voters. It certainly played a pivotal role in the decision by a group of tour guides to contest the local body polls in their respective areas.Armed with their experience in leading large groups of people from diverse cultures, languages and backgrounds, these tour leaders have now chosen to become people’s leaders.

Sanjeev Thankappan, a regional level guide (RLG) approved by the Centre, said the slump in tourism after the Covid-19 outbreak prompted some of the guides to try and put their ‘leadership’ skill to the test. 
“The tourism industry lies in a shambles with any revival likely to happen only in 2022. So, I thought why not channel my energy to something that I had been doing when not a tour guide,” Sanjeev said.

Contesting as an independent from Karumalloor in Ernakulam, Sanjeev has his share of ideas — gleaned from his experience as a guide — on developing his ward.Vijesh K V, who has been in the tourism sector for 15 years, is contesting from division 21 of Kochi Corporation as a V4Kochi candidate.  “As a tour guide, you get to meet a lot of people from other countries. The conversations with them have given me a perspective on how many problems in the city can be solved,” Vijesh said. 

Contesting from Erattupetta as a UDF candidate, Biju Manayani has many feathers in his hat. An advocate, he turned a tour manager because of his passion for discovering new places. “Though I have some political background, the current decision might have been, in a small part, propelled by the pandemic,” he said. Rejaneesh Sahadevan, a Kerala government-licensed guide who has been in the industry for 19 years, said Covid was a dampener. 

“I was thinking of what to do next when the people and the representatives of UDF came to me asking to be a candidate,” he said. While he was not very keen on contesting, the residents of Thekkady forced him to change his mind.“This is the biggest constituency in Kerala but with the lowest number of voters. There are only 832 voters here and a majority of them are tribal persons,” said Rejaneesh. He wants to use his experience as a tour leader to revive many dead tourism projects in the region.

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