13 percent voting in Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Kolkata, April 10 (IANS) Almost 13 percent of the electorate voted Thursday in the first two hours in the lone Lok Sabha constituency in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, officials said.

There are a total of 257,856 voters in the union territory. Voting started in 386 polling booths at 7 a.m. in this picturesque archipelago of 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal.

"We have recorded 13.08 percent voting till 9 a.m.," an official of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chief Electoral Officer told IANS. He added the balloting was smooth and normal.

There are 15 candidates in the fray. The main contenders are sitting MP Bishnu Pada Ray of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kuldip Rai Sharma of the Congress and Sanjay Meshak of the Aam Aadmi Party.

Interestingly, 12.75 percent of the electorate is in the 18-25 age-bracket.

In the 2009 elections, the BJP garnered 44.21 percent of the votes and the Congress 42.86 percent.