Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 28 March 2024
As the deadline for filing nominations for the lone Lok Sabha seat of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands Parliamentary Constituency drew to a close, the Office of the Returning Officer witnessed a flurry of activity with the submission of 10 nomination papers on the final day.
The Office of the Returning Officer, situated at the District Office in South Andaman, was abuzz as candidates from various political affiliations queued up to formalise their candidacy. Among those who filed their nomination papers today were Mr. Salamat Mondal from the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) (SUCI (C)), Mr. K Venkat Ram Babu representing the Andaman & Nicobar Janta Party (ANJP), and Mr. Sher Singh of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Additionally, the list of candidates included Mr. Kuldeep Rai Sharma of the Indian National Congress (INC), Ms. Rinku Mala Mondal (Independent Candidate), Mr. K Muthu also from the INC, Mr. V S Bhaskaran from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), Ms. Usha Kumari (Independent Candidate), Mr. Anand Ramnath Arlekar (Independent Candidate) and Mr. V K Abdul Aziz from Andaman & Nicobar Janta Party (ANJP), also joined the race.
The nominees personally handed over their nomination papers to Mr. Arjun Sharma, the Returning Officer for the A&N Islands Parliamentary Constituency, stationed at the Office of the Returning Officer, which is also the Deputy Commissioner’s office in South Andaman.
With these latest submissions, the total number of nominations for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the Islands stands at 15. The scrutiny of all filed nominations commenced today, March 28, 2024, at the Office of the Returning Officer, as per the electoral procedures.