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CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ISSUES '98
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CHAT

State:	Madhya Pradesh
Constituency:	Betul
Total Votes Polled:	525173
Winner: BJP	Vijay Kumar Khandelwal	260259
Runner Up: INC	Aslam Sherkhan	148183
Margin: 112076 (22.49%)

Another Congress citadel, barring a couple of hiccups in the past. N K Salve was elected from here in 1971, before going under the Janata wave the next time round. Aslam Sher Khan, then a staunch Congressman, defeated former civil servant M N Buch in 1984, before Arif Beg trounced him in 1989. Khan wrested back the seat from Beg in 1991, before yielding to the BJP's V K Khandelwal in 1996. Interestingly, Beg left the BJP in 1996, accusing it of being anti-Muslim, while Khan has joined the BJP!