Lakshadweep Lok Sabha elections 2024: Voters are set to arrive at polling stations on April 19 as the islands of Lakshadweep will go for the high-octane Lok Sabha elections in the first phase of the polls. Lakshadweep will witness a three-party contest between sitting candidate Mohammed Faizal PP of the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), the Indian National Congress and the official NCP under Ajit Pawar.
Voting will start on Friday to select the sole Lok Sabha MP from the smallest Lok Sabha constituency and the results will be announced on June 4. The sitting MP is Mohammed Faizal from NCP (Sharad Pawar), who defeated Congress' Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed for the second time in 2019 with a narrow margin of 823 votes. Faizal garnered 22,851 votes with a vote share of 49.00 per cent and defeated Hamdullah Sayeed from INC who got 22,028 votes (46.84 per cent).
In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Faizal won the seat, defeating Sayeed by a margin of 1,535 votes. Faizal won 21,665 votes with a vote share of 50.10 per cent while Sayeed won 20,130 votes (46.55 per cent). Sayeed won in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. It is important to mention that the Lakshadweep constituency is reserved for the Scheduled Tribes.
Three-party contest
The sitting MP in Lakshadweep is likely to witness a much stronger challenge since the NCP split into two factions, which means Faizal has lost the 'clock' symbol that won him the last two elections. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has extended support to Ajit Pawar's NCP faction, which has fielded Yusuf TP in the Lakshadweep seat. Meanwhile, Congress has once again nominated Hamdullah Sayeed as the candidate in the Lok Sabha seat.
While other parties under the banner of left parties like CPM, CPI, BJP and JD(U) contested in 2019, they only managed to win 2,000-odd votes in the Lok Sabha elections. This time, only three parties are in the fray - the NCP (Sharad Pawar), the INC and the NCP (Ajit Pawar), along with an independent candidate Koya.
Sayeed has claimed that there is "strong resentment" against the policies and inaction of incumbent MP Mohammed Faizal of the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. "Today the people of Lakshadweep are fed up with the present regime and with the present MP. There's a very strong resentment against the policies and against the inaction of the MP," he told news agency ANI.
On the other hand, NCP (SP) candidate Faizal has affirmed confidence that the anti-incumbency factor would not have an impact on the coral islands of Lakshwadeep". The island has received some attention due to a spike in domestic tourism initiatives following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit.
Faizal's legal challenges
In October last year, Faizal was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha after the Kerala High Court rejected his plea for suspension of his conviction in an attempt to murder case. This came months after he was previously disqualified in January 2023 after a sessions court at Kavaratti had convicted him and three others on charges of attempting to murder P Salih in 2009 and sentenced all three to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years.
It was a unique case where a sitting Lok Sabha MP was disqualified twice within a year. However, the Supreme Court suspended the Kerala High Court's decision and Faizal was reinstated in the Lok Sabha in November last year. Subsequently, the Lok Sabha Secretariat revoked Faizal's suspension, allowing him to continue as MP.
Lok Sabha election results in 2019
Mohammed Faizal PP of the NCP won 22,851 votes (49.00 per cent) in 2019, defeating Congress' Hamdullah Sayeed, who won 22,028 votes (46.84 per cent), by a slim margin of 823 votes.
Lok Sabha election results in 2014
Mohammed Faizal PP of the NCP won 21,665 votes (50.10 per cent) in 2019, defeating Congress' Hamdullah Sayeed, who won 20,130 votes (46.55 per cent), by a margin of 1,535 votes.
