Elections 98

State:	Tamil Nadu
Constituency:	Salem
Total Votes Polled:	679778
Winner: IND	Ramamurthy K.	365557
Runner Up: TMC(M)	Devadass R.	229677
Margin: 135880 (37%)

Elections 96

State:	Tamilnadu
Constituency:	Salem
Total Votes Polled:	706406
Winner: TMC(M)	Devadass R	315277
Runner Up: INC	Thangkabalu K V	194392
Margin: 120885 (18.05%)

Rangarajan Kumaramangalam, son of the illustrious Mohan Kumaramangalam, was elected from here on a Congress ticket for three consecutive terms starting 1984. In 1996, the constituency returned the TMC's R Devadass who defeated the Congress's K V Thangkabalu by 121,000 votes. Ranga, who contested on the Congress-Tiwari ticket, came third, winning 120,345 votes or 17.97 %.