173. Nannilam

TMCM held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 33.1% to 16.9%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 15.3% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) finished second with 29.2% — it did not contest here in 1996.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 75.3% between them, down from 89.7% — the field split more ways.

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