Janata Dal holds on
What happened
Janata Dal held onto power in Bihar, winning a second term in a row.
The Janata Dal won 167 of the 324 seats on offer, a clear majority this time.
It also took 28.0% of the vote share this time — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate.
Its nearest rival, the Bharatiya Janata Party, took 41 seats.
What changed
The same party returned to government, this time crossing the threshold for a majority on its own.
It gained 45 seats compared with the previous election.
That was enough to clear the 163-seat majority mark by 4 seats.
Seats also moved from the Indian National Congress to the JD more than any other pairing, 36 of them changing hands this way.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from this result are worth knowing on their own.
The closest race: Khijri, Bihar was decided by just 93 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second.
At the other extreme, Kanti, Bihar saw the widest margin of the election, with the winner finishing 56.8% of the vote ahead of the runner-up — measured as a share of the vote rather than in votes.
Bokaro, Bihar had the largest pool of registered voters of any seat that year, 3,53,142 in all.
Nalanda, Bihar drew the largest field of candidates, 48 in all.
The backdrop
This election kept the same party in charge of Bihar's government for a second term.