Elections 98

State:	West Bengal
Constituency:	Katwa
Total Votes Polled:	965238
Winner: CPM	Zahedi Mahboob	470543
Runner Up: WBTC	Swapan Debnath	331836
Margin: 138707 (29%)

Elections 96

State:	West Bengal
Constituency:	Katwa
Total Votes Polled:	960916
Winner: CPM	Mahaboob Zahedi	475264
Runner Up: INC	Nurul Islam	369062
Margin: 106202 (11.28%)

Saifuddin Chowdhury -- the engaging and earnest Marxist -- won this seat for the CPI-M from 1980 to 1991, four times in a row. In 1996, the CPI-M's Mahaboob Zahedi held onto the seat, defeating the Congress's Nurul Islam by 1,06,000 votes.