231. Jhargram

Communist Party of India (Marxist) held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 51.3% to 22.0%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 20.8% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerAll India Trinamool Congress (AITC) finished second with 23.7% — it did not contest here in 1996.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 69.3% between them, down from 81.5% — the field split more ways.

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