With the Congress accusing the Union Territory Administrator of high-handedness and BJP candidate Lalubhai Patel of smuggling liquor to Gujarat, Daman and Diu and Dadra and Nagar Haveli are seeing a high-pitched campaign for the two Lok Sabha seats on May 7. The two enclaves were separate Union Territories till Parliament passed legislation in December 2019 and merged them.
While Dadra and Nagar Haveli, a seat reserved for the Scheduled Tribes, has nearly 2.5 lakh voters, Daman and Diu, the smallest Lok Sabha constituency after Lakshwadeep, has fewer than 90,000. The territory has four geographical entities: Dadra, Nagar Haveli, Daman and the island of Diu. These were Portuguese colonies and were part of the Union Territory of Goa till the mid-1980s.
The Union Territory’s capital, Daman, is adjacent to the industrial town of Vapi in south Gujarat, while Silvassa is the largest city. Diu is a scenic island along the Saurashtra coast. While Daman is an industrial town, on Diu, most of the population depends on fishing and tourism. Vanakbara in Diu is one of the largest fishing harbours on the Gujarat coast.
