Kavaratti: Deputy Speaker in the dissolved Lok Sabha P M Sayeed was today (May 13, 2004) defeated by 71 votes by his Janata Dal-United (JD-U) rival Dr P Pookunji Koya.

While Sayeed polled 15,526 votes, Koya had cornered 15,596 votes in his favour.

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Sixty-two-year-old Sayeed had represented the constituency for 10 terms consecutively since 1967.

Dr Koya had plunged into the electoral battlefield after availing of Voluntary Retirement from the Amini community health centre, where he was the chief medical officer.