173. Haliyal

Indian National Congress held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 11.8% to 11.1%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 10.9% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) finished second with 32.6% — it did not contest here in 1999.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 76.3% between them, down from 97.3% — the field split more ways.

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