26. Kushtagi

Indian National Congress held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 37.4% to 30.2%.

• New challengerBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished second with 29.9% — it did not contest here in 1978.
• Vote consolidatedThe top two candidates took 90.0% of the vote between them, up from 77.3% — a tighter two-way contest.

Written from the constituency figures by a fixed set of rules — no language model.