Lok Sabha Election 2019, Lakshadweep profile: Congress faces uphill task to defeat NCP's Mohammed Faizal

Covering just 32 square kilometres of area, the archipelago of Lakshadweep will go to polls on the 11 April. The main contest is expected to be between the Congress and the NCP – an ally of the Grand Old Party in Maharashtra and at the Centre. NCP has fielded its incumbent MP Mohammed Faizal in the upcoming elections too.

Currently administered by Farooq Khan, a former Jammu and Kashmir IPS officer, Lakshadweep is mainly known for its pristine nature, fishing and coconuts. The island was badly impacted by Cyclone Ockhi in 2017.

Here is a brief profile of the smallest constituency in India:

Lakshadweep Lok Sabha Constituency

Total electors:  49, 922 (2014)

Female electors: 24,489

Male electors: 25,433

Reserved: Yes. For Scheduled Tribes

Delimited: No

Assembly Constituencies: N/A

Results in last four elections: In 1999, veteran Congress leader PM Sayeed won the seat. However, in 2004 polls, he lost the seat to JD(U)’s P Pookunhi Koya. In 2009 elections, Sayeed’s son Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed snatched the seat back from the JD(U) after contesting on a Congress ticket. In the 2014 elections, NCP’s Mohammed Faizal won the seat. This constituency is notable for electing PM Sayeed in 10 consecutive elections between 1967 and 1999.

Demographics: The Lakshadweep is the smallest Lok Sabha constituency in the country. Most of its 50,000+ electorate is Muslim. Ethnically, a majority of the population in Lakshadweep is of Malayali origin and has been given the status of Scheduled Tribe by the Centre. As per the 2011 Census, over 42,000 out of the 67,000 people in Lakshadweep are between the ages of 15 and 59.