LS polls: Amid NCP symbol row and tourism push, interesting battle awaits in Lakshadweep

Kavaratti (Lakshadweep) [India], April 13 : Lakshadweep, the archipelago in the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Kerala, will go to polls in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on April 19.
Voting will be held for the only seat the union territory sends to the Lok Sabha. The counting of votes will be done on June 4.
Lakshadweep is the country's smallest Lok Sabha constituency, in terms of the number of voters.
This time, Lakshadweep is going to witness a triangular fight between the NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), Congress, and the Ajit Pawar-led NCP supported by the BJP.
The seat is currently held by the incumbent MP from undivided NCP, PP Mohammed Faizal.
Notably, Faizal contested from Lakshadweep under the NCP symbol of 'clock'. But, after the split in the party by his nephew Ajit Pawar, the symbol allotted to Sharad Pawar's faction (Sharadchandra Pawar) is a 'Man blowing turha' (trumpet).
He is up against Congress leader and former MP Muhammed Hamdullah Sayeed. He was the MP from Lakshadweep in the 15th Lok Sabha (2014-19).
Other than the two, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP has fielded Yusuf T P as its candidate from the UT. The candidate is being supported by the BJP, which is in alliance with Sharad Pawar's nephew in Maharashtra.
In the 2019 elections, NCP's PP Mohammed Faizal emerged victorious by getting 22851 votes. Sayeed lost by a narrow margin of 823 votes and secured 22, 028 votes.
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 ANI.
He further pointed out that Lakshadweep has "one of the highest" unemployment rates in the country and that is one of the major issues for the island.
"When it comes to unemployment, it's one of the highest in the country. Lakshadweep earlier ranked 43rd in terms of unemployment. But today, it has overtaken all of it and it has ranked as number one in unemployment. This is the inaction of the MP and the failure on the part of the MP to take it up with the present regime and with the present administration," the former MP said.
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."
Anti-incumbency is always a fact but when it comes to an island -- it is a place that is very small. Nearly less than 50,000 people are enlisted for voting. From there, around 45,000 people may cast a vote...When we are connected to each other, the anti-incumbency doesn't come up here. So, anti-incumbency does not affect this coral island," he said.
He also said that the change in the Nationalist Congress Party's symbol after the party got split into two factions, will not have any impact on the Lakshwadeep election as the public remembers his 'face'.
"In Lakshadweep, the symbol on which I was contesting for the last two terms has now gone to another person. But that doesn't affect the electoral battle here. People remember my face," he said.
Notably, Lakshadweep will go to polls not much later after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the archipelago to promote the site as a tourist destination, as well as a move to push for domestic tourism.
In January, PM Modi visited Lakshadweep and shared a couple of pictures, showing the "stunning beauty of its islands". He said his visit to the islands was "an enriching journey of learning and growing."