217. Muddebihal

Indian National Congress held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 14.5% to 2.9%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 20.8% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerJanata Dal (Secular) (JDS) finished second with 33.5% — it did not contest here in 1999.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 69.9% between them, down from 100.0% — the field split more ways.

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