Keralam's first vote
What happened
In this state's first-ever assembly election, one party finished with more seats than any other, just short of a majority on its own.
The Communist Party of India took 60 of the 126 seats on offer.
Its closest rival, the Indian National Congress, won 43.
What changed
This was the very first election held here, called right after the state was created by joining together several older regions.
Kerala was formed on 1 November 1956 under the States Reorganisation Act, merging the former Travancore-Cochin state with the Malabar district and Kasaragod taluk from Madras State to unite Malayalam-speaking areas into one state. Its first Legislative Assembly election followed in February-March 1957.
A number of that year's constituencies used a multi-member design, where a single contest sent more than one member to the new assembly.
12 of the 114 constituencies worked this way.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that first election stand out.
Cannanore I, Keralam saw the tightest finish, decided by just 51 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second.
The runner-up, the INC, actually polled a higher vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — than the winner, 37.9% against 35.3%, despite winning far fewer seats.
Karunagapally, Keralam recorded the best turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — at 83.0%.
Devicolam, Keralam had the most registered voters of any constituency, 1,41,815 in all.
The backdrop
The government this election produced also made history well beyond this state's borders.
Polling for Kerala's first Legislative Assembly election ran 28 February-11 March 1957. The Communist Party of India emerged as the largest party, and E. M. S. Namboodiripad was sworn in as Chief Minister on 5 April 1957 with independents' support -- one of the first democratically elected communist governments in the world, after San Marino.