196. Tiruvadanai

Indian National Congress held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 18.9% to 1.7%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 12.2% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) finished second with 33.8% — it did not contest here in 1984.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 69.4% between them, down from 76.7% — the field split more ways.

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