A narrower win, a new rival
What happened
Congress again finished ahead of the field in Meghalaya's assembly election, winning fewer seats than it had the last time.
The Indian National Congress won 22 of the 60 seats.
Its vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — was 30.0%.
The Nationalist Congress Party followed with 14 seats.
What changed
Congress remained the largest party in Meghalaya's assembly for another election.
A newly formed party quickly rose to second place.
It won 22 seats this time, down from 25 at the previous election.
Across the state, 9 seats moved from the INC to the NCP.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that election stand out.
The tightest finish was in Pariong, Meghalaya, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 29 votes.
At the other extreme, Pynthorumkhrah, Meghalaya was the most lopsided contest, with the winner ahead by 46.4% of the vote.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — was lowest in Laitumkhirah, Meghalaya, at just 45.5%.
Tura, Meghalaya had the largest electorate of any seat that year, with 41,142 names on the rolls.
The backdrop
By this point, no Meghalaya election had produced a single-party majority, and governments were built through post-election bargaining.