This time, one front cleared the majority mark comfortably, with room to spare.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) won 58 of the 140 seats on its own — more than any other party.

Its LDF front — an alliance, a group of parties that team up to fight an election together, and share power afterward if they win enough seats between them — took 85 seats in all, past the 71-seat majority mark.

The party leading this front had won far fewer seats at the previous election.

It went from 45 seats then to 58 seats this time.

Even so, its own vote share slipped -1.7 pp from the previous election.

The Indian National Congress's vote share fell further still, down -2.7 pp.

A few numbers from this election stand out.

The tightest finish was at Wadakkanchery, Keralam, decided by just 43 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, over whoever came second.

Cherthala, Keralam saw the highest turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — at 86.7%.

Aranmula, Keralam had the largest electorate of any seat that year, with 2,27,943 registered voters.

The most crowded contest was at Poonjar, Keralam, where 17 candidates stood for a single seat.

This election took place within the same state boundaries that had existed since Keralam itself was created.