377. Salem

Indian National Congress held the seat; the winning margin narrowed from 45.4% to 36.7%.

• Won on a lower shareIts own vote share fell 8.4% — it held because the rest of the vote was more divided.
• New challengerDravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) finished second with 24.2% — it did not contest here in 1984.
• Vote fragmentedThe top two took only 85.0% between them, down from 93.0% — the field split more ways.
• TurnoutTurnout fell 4.0% to 63.8%.

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