Congress holds on, with a closer race underneath
What happened
Congress kept power in Madras State's second election, continuing the government it had already been running.
Indian National Congress won 151 of the 205 seats.
That was 73.7% of the house — a landslide.
Its vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — was much closer: 45.3% against 44.6% for Independent.
What changed
This was Madras State's second election, held on a much smaller map than the first.
The house shrank from 375 seats to 205.
Some of that year's constituencies still used a multi-member design, where the same contest sent more than one member to the assembly.
38 of the 167 constituencies worked this way.
PSP won seats in the state for the first time.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that election stand out.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — ranged widely across the state, from 25.7% in Uddanapalli, Madras to 78.0% in Kanyakumari, Madras.
The tightest race was Kallakurichi, Madras, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 81 votes.
The widest win was in Ramanathapuram, Madras, where the winner finished 64.0% ahead of the runner-up.
The most crowded contest was Perambalur, Madras, where 14 candidates stood.
The backdrop
Even so, fewer voters turned out than at the state's first election.
Turnout fell -8.5 pp from the previous election, to 48.2%.
This made 2 wins in a row.