Remembering Stalwart P M Sayeed, Who Represented Lakshadweep In Lok Sabha For 10 Consecutive Terms

 

P M Sayeed was a Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Member Parliament from Lakshadweep for ten consecutive terms. His winning run continued till 1999, till he lost the 2004 election by a mere 71 votes.

File: The Union Minister for Power Shri P.M Sayeed addressing the Press in New Delhi on May 25, 2004

Only five persons have represented Lakshadweep in the 16 Lok Sabhas since it was formed in 1956 when it was carved out from Madras Presidency and made into Union territory.

It got its first elected Lok Sabha member in 1967 when Padanatha Mohammed Sayeed won the seat as an independent candidate at the age of 26. In 1971, Sayeed joined the Indian National Congress and was elected unopposed.

File: The Union Minister for Power, Shri P.M. Sayeed with Prime minister Dr. Manmohan Singh 

Lost By Mere 71 Votes

Born on May 10, 1941, P M Sayeed was a Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Member of Parliament from Lakshadweep for ten consecutive terms. His winning run continued till 1999, till he lost the 2004 election by a mere 71 votes to Janata Dal (United) candidate P Pookunhi Koya.

File:The President Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam administering the oath as Cabinet Minister to Shri P.M. Sayeed at a Swearing-in Ceremony in New Delhi on May 22, 2004

Sayeed was hoping for an 11th consecutive term in the lower house when his dream was shattered by Koya, a medical practitioner from the islands, who was making his electoral and poll debut this time.

Sixty-two-year-old Sayeed had celebrated his birthday on May 10, the polling day, according to Hindustan Times.

File: During the visit of late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi PM Sayeed explaining 

Victorious In 10 Elections

In the first general elections in 1967, Sayeed, who hails from Androth island, had contested on a Congress ticket and won by a margin of 386 votes and had emerged victorious in all subsequent elections.

According to Wikipedia, one of the senior-most members of India's Parliament and an MP for 35 years, he died of a cardiac arrest in Seoul on December 18, 2005.

His son Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed, a law graduate from Indian Society College in Pune, was elected from the Lakshadweep constituency at the age of 26, like his father. He became the youngest MP in the 15th Lok Sabha. He reclaimed the seat in 2009 only to lose to Faizal in 2014 and again in 2019.