Elections 98

State:	Orissa
Constituency:	Kalahandi
Total Votes Polled:	621213
Winner: BJP	Bikram Keshari Deo	344703
Runner Up: INC	Bhakta Charan Das	224789
Margin: 119914 (35%)

Elections 96

State:	Orissa
Constituency:	Kalahandi
Total Votes Polled:	584472
Winner: SAP	Bhakta Charan Das	200080
Runner Up: INC	Subash Chandra Nayak	147047
Margin: 53033 (9.32%)

So far the Congress has won this seat only three times. J B Patnaik was the second Congressman to win this seat, in 1984, before losing to Bhakta Charan Das (JD) the next time round. The Congress regained this famine-hit constituency in 1991, but Das wrested it back in 1996 for the Samata Party.