The first election of a new state
What happened
Congress held on to power in Himachal Pradesh's first election as a full state.
The Indian National Congress won 53 of the 68 seats on offer.
That was 18 seats more than it needed for a majority.
Its nearest rival was Independent candidates, who together won 7 seats.
The party had now won 3 elections in a row in the state.
What changed
This was the very first election held after Himachal Pradesh became a full state.
The assembly grew to 68 seats, up from 60 before.
The party's own seat count rose from 34 to 53 in the process.
Most of that gain traced to IND voters shifting to INC, 13 seats' worth.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from the results stand out on their own.
Shahpur, Himachal Pradesh saw the tightest fight of the night, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 74 votes.
At the other end, Jubbal Kotkhai, Himachal Pradesh was the widest win of the election, with a margin of 89.1% of the vote.
Lahaul Spiti, Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest turnout of the election, 78.2% — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot.
Sundernagar, Himachal Pradesh was the largest constituency by registered voters, with 39,102 on its rolls.
The backdrop
Himachal Pradesh had only just become a full state before this election.