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The BJP candidate from Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bishnu Pada Ray, hit out at the Congress on Sunday, claiming that the grand old party has always harboured 'anti-India' sentiments.
Speaking to ANI on Sunday, he claimed that the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, gifted the Coco Islands, which were part of the Northern Andaman Islands, to Myanmar. "The Congress has always harboured anti-India sentiments. Nehru gifted the Coco Islands, which were part of the Northern Andaman Islands, to Myanmar, which is currently under China's direct control. They did not worry about the islands in the 70 years they were in power. Today, the central government is constructing a shipyard, and two defence airports to counter China in Campbell Bay, which is also known as Indira Point," the BJP candidate claimed. He added that the the Congress 'cannot even imagine' allocating the kind of funds that the Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has pumped in to shore up the country's defence in the face of external security challenges. "No Congress leader ever bothered to visit this island cluster, but Modi-ji made regular visits here. I am hopeful that you will soon seen a Congress-mukt Andaman. This time, their candidates will lose their deposits here. Kuldeep Rai Sharma, the sitting MP, did not spend a penny for the development of the islands," he added. Kuldeep Rai Sharma of the Congress is the current MP from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. In the 2019 general elections, Sharma emerged victorious over the BJP's Vishal Jolly. Polling for the lone Lok Sabha seat in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands will be held in the opening phase, on April 19. (ANI)
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