Daman and Diu

Supriya Jha

Nestled along the coast of the Arabian Sea, Daman and Diu was granted the status of a Union Territory in 1987 when Goa was made the 25th state of India

Daman and Diu is the fifth largest Union Territory and is divided into two districts, Daman and Diu.

Total voters are 44546.

Major parties in Daman and Diu are Indian National Congress (INC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

Daman and Diu has just one Lok Sabha seat and it will go to the 16th Lok Sabha polls on 30 April 2014.

In 1987, the maiden Lok Sabha elections in the state was won by the Congress but an independent won in 1989 elections. BJP won in 1991 but Congress was back in 1996. BJP was the alternate winner in 1998, however the INC came back to power in 1990 and 2004 elections. Last Lok Sabha elections in 2009 went to the BJP`s kit.

Lalubhai Babubhai Patel of the BJP is a prominent politician and also a member of the Committee on Home Affairs. He had won in the last election.

Tandel Gopalbhai Kalyanbhai and Patel Dahyabhai Vallabhbhai are key Congress leaders from this Union Territory.

The BJP had won the election in 2009 and the opinion polls predict the BJP will continue the winning streak in 2014 too.