235. Balrampur

Communist Party of India (Marxist) held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 43.3% to 30.5%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 5.2% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerAll India Trinamool Congress (AITC) finished second with 28.2% — it did not contest here in 1996.

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