Elections 98

State:	Tamil Nadu
Constituency:	Ramanathapuram
Total Votes Polled:	613398
Winner: ADMK	Sathiamoorthy, V.	258978
Runner Up: TMC(M)	Udayappan, SP.	234886
Margin: 24092 (9%)

Elections 96

State:	Tamilnadu
Constituency:	Ramanthapuram
Total Votes Polled:	664914
Winner: TMC(M)	Udayappan, S.P.	331249
Runner Up: INC	Rajeshwaran V	135945
Margin: 195304 (31.26%)

V Rajeshwaran won the seat for the Congress three consecutive times since 1984, and yet, in 1996 he lost to his former colleague now contesting against him on the TMC ticket. S P Udayappan defeated him by 196,000 votes.