The largest party held on to that position for a second election running, again without enough seats to govern alone.

The Indian National Congress won 25 of the seats.

That was 5 more than it had won last time.

Its own vote share barely moved, down just -1.3 pp from the previous election.

Seat-by-seat, the clearest pattern was the largest party gaining ground that had belonged to independents.

The single biggest flip sent seats from Independent to INC.

5 seats moved that way.

Independents as a group also saw their standing collapse this election.

A few numbers from this election stand out.

The tightest race was Nongbah-Wahiajer, Meghalaya, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 31 votes.

The most one-sided contest was Baghmara, Meghalaya, won by 57.0% of the vote.

Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — was highest in Phulbari, Meghalaya, at 85.3%.

One brand-new party, PDC, also broke through and won seats for the first time.

The overall shape of the assembly stayed familiar: one party ahead, still short of governing alone.