Andamans recorded the region's highest turnout of 55 per cent on Thursday in the 386 polling stations.
In the Andamans, there was practically a straight contest between Congress, which had been winning the seat continuously until 2004 with the exception of 1999, and BJP though there are also nominees of NCP, BSP, CPI-M, SP and TMC in the contest for the lone seat.
The Congress contestant Kuldeep Rai Sharma is pitted against Bishnu Pada Ray, the sitting MP, of BJP.
An estimated 2,57,856 electorate will choose from the 15 contestants, five of them independents.
The Bengali votes in North and Middle Andamans along with Tamil in South Andamans and Nicobarese in the Nicobar group of islands hold the key to the battle in the multi-cultural island. Voters headed to the booths as polling began at 7 am.
The main issue in the election is the removal of the buffer zone set up in the ‘Jarawa Tribal Reserve area’, where commercial activity is banned.
