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ISSUES '98
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CHAT

State:	Punjab
Constituency:	Amritsar
Total Votes Polled:	667780
Winner: INC	Raghnandan Lal Bhatia	268490
Runner Up: JD	Kirpal Singh	234818
Margin: 33672 (5.15%)

The first time that Raghunandan Lal Bhatia decided to contest from here, he could not have chosen a worse time. The year was 1977, and needless to say the Congressman was trundled by the BLD's Baldev Prakash. In 1980 and 1984 he took the seat effortlessly, before being unseated by an Independent, Kirpal Singh, in 1989. He took the seat back in 1992, winning 60.5 % of the vote. In 1996, he defeated Kirpal Singh, fielded this time by the Janata Dal, by 34,000 votes. The BJP and SAD together could not poll more than 102,000 votes, compared to Bhatia's 268,490 votes.