A narrower win in a bigger state
What happened
The party that led the state's first government held on to power again, but only narrowly.
The Indian National Congress won 34 seats this time.
That left it just 3 seats clear of the 60-seat house's majority mark.
The Independent camp came close behind, with 16 seats.
What changed
This was the first election held after the state's boundaries were substantially redrawn, taking in hill districts newly transferred from a neighbouring state.
The assembly grew along with it, from 36 seats to 60.
New parties won seats here for the first time: the BJS and CPI.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from this election stand out.
The closest race: Una, Himachal Pradesh was decided by just 56 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second, of any seat that year.
Outer Seraj, Himachal Pradesh had the widest margin of the election, with the winner finishing 88.8% clear of the runner-up.
Amb, Himachal Pradesh drew the most crowded field, with 11 candidates on the ballot.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — climbed to about 48.4%, a rise of +21.7 pp percentage points from the state's first election.
The backdrop
This election followed a major addition of territory to the state.