176. Vedaranyam

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 37.1% to 1.9%.

Boundaries were redrawn between 1971 and 1977 — the comparison is matched by name and is indicative only.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 28.5% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerIndian National Congress (INC) finished second with 33.5% — it did not contest here in 1971.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 68.9% between them, down from 90.6% — the field split more ways.

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