Port Blair, June 4: In a landslide victory, the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from A&N Parliamentary Constituency, Shri Bishnu Pada Ray defeated his nearest contender, Indian National Congress candidate, Shri Kuldeep Rai Sharma by a margin of 24,396 votes. The return of Bishnu Pada Ray in his 4th term as the Member of Parliament of Andaman & Nicobar Parliamentary Constituency for the 18th Lok Sabha, with such a big margin has made him the Vox Populi of Andaman & Nicobar Islands.
A total of 15 rounds of counting were held in which Bishnu Pada Ray maintained a major lead right from the first round. At the end of the final round of counting, Bishnu Pada Ray secured 102436 votes while Kuldeep Rai Sharma of Indian National Congress secured 78040 votes, thus securing a margin of 24,396 for the BJP candidate.
The return of Bishnu Pada Ray for the fourth term, comes as a ray of hope for the people of Andaman & Nicobar Islands who have been witnessing the deteriorating state of affairs in the Islands Viz. basic facilities like Roads, Electricity and Water. Though Ray has been claiming that National Highway -4 was his gift to the people of Andamans, but the since the time the highway was declared, it never was able to provide a smooth ride for the islanders.
Shri Bishnu Pada Ray has been maintaining an image of pro-people and anti-administration and has led to many agitations in his career as the Member of Parliament. With the return of Bishnu for the fourth term as the Member of Parliament, can the islanders expect the same ferocious leader who took to streets when it came to issues of public interest, remains the question of the hour. Secondly, with the BJP not able to secure an independent majority in the centre this time, will Bishnu be able to bring justice to the people through the centre, remains another question?