Why Lakshadweep’s New ‘Reforms’ May Enable ‘Autocratic’ Rule An insidious attempt to invest autocratic powers in the UT’s administration has begun to take root: Shashi Tharoor SHASHI THAROOR Published: 25 May 2021, 8:34 PM IST OPINION 4 min read i Share Share Share Share Share Comments On a February evening in New Delhi, Hamdullah Sayeed, a former parliamentary colleague and the current chief of the Lakshadweep Pradesh Congress Committee, called on me with a disturbing petition.