87.05 per cent polling recorded in Lakshadweep

Kavaratti: Lakshadweep Lok Sabha constituency recorded 87.05 per cent polling for the lone seat in the polls held yesterday in the Union Territory, where Congress sitting MP Hamdullah Sayeed is trying his luck for the second time.

The polling percentage in the 2009 Lok Sabha polls was 85.98 per cent.

The constituency comprises of 27 islands of which only 10 are inhabited. Total strength of electorate is 49,821 -- 25,342 men and 24,479 women, besides 101 service voters.

Right from the time polling began, all the 44 booths reported heavy rush and long queues, polling officials said.

Minicoy, Amini, Androth, Chetelath, Kiltan, Kadmath, Kalpeni, Kavaratti (headquarter island), Agatti and Bitra are the inhabited islands in the Union Territory.

Six contestants were in fray in the elections which saw a fierce contest between Hamdullah Sayeed and P P Mohammed Faisal of NCP. CPI(M), BJP and Samajwadi Party have also put up candidates in the constituency.

A Congress bastion, the constituency was represented in the Lok Sabha by late P M Sayeed, former Union Minister and father of Hamdullah, for 10 terms from 1967 till 2004.