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ISSUES '98
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CHAT

State:	West Bengal
Constituency:	Contai
Total Votes Polled:	829074
Winner: CPM	Sudhir Giri	397028
Runner Up: INC	Nitish Sengupta	372986
Margin: 24042 (2.95%)

The Congress managed to break the CPI-M's hold on this constituency in 1984, but that was largely aided by the Rajiv wave. Ex-MP Sudhir Giri managed to wrest back the seat in 1989 and hold on to it till 1996, when he defeated the Congress's Nitish Sengupta -- the former civil servant -- by 27,000 votes.