Politics in the archipelago off the Kerala coast is like the Lakshadweep Sea where waves keep crashing and rolling onto the pristine beaches.
Beneath the calm demeanour of Lakshadweep lies smouldering embers of discontent sparked by the intervention of external interests, including the policies of the incumbent Administrator.
The upcoming election to Parliament is of utmost importance to the islanders. The election heat in the archipelago has increased over the days, matching the feverish mood in the mainland, lying invisible beyond the horizon.
The sitting MP, NCP (Sharad Pawar) candidate is contesting under a new symbol, allotted after the split in the party. PP Mohammed Faizal is contesting under the symbol of a 'man blowing the turha' (a traditional trumpet) instead of the 'analogue alarm clock' under which he had made to the Lok Sabha in the previous two elections.
Faizal was disqualified twice after he was named an accused and sentenced in a 2009 violence case. However, he is unperturbed and is confident of a hat-trick win from the Union Territory.
The Congress has fielded its former MP Hamdulla Sayeed from Lakshadweep. His father PM Sayeed had represented the archipelago in the Lok Sabha ten times. Hamdulla Sayeed, who won the 2009 election, is eyeing to reclaim his father's home turf and began campaigning six months in advance.
Hamdulla Sayeed had visited all the islands in Lakshadweep multiple times. His high-voltage campaign also included door-to-door canvassing. He had lost to Faizal by a slender margin of 823 votes in 2019.
The NCP (Ajit Pawar) faction has Kadamath resident and religious scholar TP Yusuf as its candidate. He is contesting under the alarm clock symbol. The candidate claimed that though the NCP has joined hands with the BJP at the national level, it is going alone in Lakshadweep. Yusuf boasts of a large student base in all the islands.
Though Lakshadweep has 57,784 voters, around 48,000 cast their votes since others would be outside the archipelago for work or education.
Androth has the largest number of voters: 10, 668. Bithra with 237 voters has the least number of electorate.
