A second term, a closer race
What happened
Indian National Congress held on to power again, though its edge over the opposition was thinner than before.
INC won 172 of the state's 320 seats.
That was 11 more than it needed for a majority.
The Bharatiya Janata Party finished second with 119 seats.
Its share of the vote was close behind the winner's, 39.3% against 40.6%.
What changed
Underneath a similar overall result, a lot of individual seats changed hands.
159 of the state's 320 seats flipped to a different party.
The single biggest shift ran from the BJP to the INC, with 60 seats moving that way.
INC had now won 2 elections in a row in the state.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from the count are worth knowing on their own.
The tightest race was in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 15 votes.
The widest margin of the night ran the other way, in Raghogarh, Madhya Pradesh, where the winner finished 66.5% of the vote clear of the runner-up.
Turnout was highest in Saria, Madhya Pradesh, where about 79.8% of registered voters turned out to cast a ballot.
It was lowest in Chitrakote, Madhya Pradesh, at just 29.6%.
The backdrop
This contest continued a rivalry between the state's two main parties.