Congress wrest Lakshadweep

Congress' debutant candidate, P M Hamdulla wrested the lone Lakshadweep parliamentary constituency from sitting MP Dr Pookunji Koya of the NCP by a margin of 2,198 votes.       

27-year-old Hamdulla, who is the son of former Union Minister, late P M Sayeed, polled 20,492 votes while Dr Koya got 18,294 votes. Hamdulla maintained lead throughout the five rounds of counting.    

Lakshadweep constituency was a Congress bastion which Hamdulla's father represented from 1967-2004. In the last Lok Sabha elections, Dr Koya defeated Sayeed by 71 votes.