NEWS
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CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ISSUES '98
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State:	Madhya Pradesh
Constituency:	Bastar (ST)
Total Votes Polled:	422541
Winner: IND	Mahendra Karma	124322
Runner Up: INC	Mankuram Sodhi	110265
Margin: 14057 (3.64%)

Given the tribal concentration here, it is not surprising that the CPI has been doing well here. Also, the constituency has a tradition of party-backed Independents becoming MP, right from 1952. In fact, in the 11 elections held so far, Independents have been elected five times so far. Mankuram Sodhi had been elected thrice in a row on the Congress ticket from here, between 1984 and 1991, but in 1996 he fell to history when Mahendra Karma, who had contested on the CPI ticket in 1984 and lost to Sodhi, was elected as an Independent. The BJP was in third place, winning 21.86 % of the vote.