Elections 98

State:	Karnataka
Constituency:	Shimoga
Total Votes Polled:	786730
Winner: BJP	Ayanoor Manjunath	352277
Runner Up: INC	D B Chandre Gowda	192370
Margin: 159907 (45%)

Elections 96

State:	Karnataka
Constituency:	Shimoga
Total Votes Polled:	735610
Winner: KCP	S Bangarappa	303152
Runner Up: JD	Ayanur Manjunatha	230916
Margin: 72236 (10.04%)

J H Patel, who succeeded Deve Gowda as chief minister, was elected from here in 1967, on the Samyukta Socialist Party ticket. He lost the 1971 and 1977 elections that he fought on the BLD ticket, and presumably gave up his LS ambitions. Nevertheless he has the distinction of being the only non-Congress MP to be elected from here, barring 1996 when the constituency voted resoundingly for a former chief minister, S Bangarappa of the Karnataka Congress Party. In the second place was the BJP with 32.08 % of the vote.