Mysore's founding election
What happened
A single party won a landslide victory in Mysore's first general election.
The Indian National Congress won 74 of the 99 seats on offer.
Its nearest challenger was a scatter of independent candidates, who together won 11 seats.
Even so, it won only 46.4% of the vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate.
What changed
This was Mysore's first general election, and some constituencies used a multi-member system — one contest sending more than one member to the assembly.
These paired a general seat with one reserved for a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe candidate.
19 of the 80 constituencies worked this way.
Altogether, the assembly seated 99 members.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that founding contest stand out.
The closest race: Tarikere, Mysore was decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 34.
At the other extreme, the winner in Bangarpet, Mysore won by 53.9% of the vote over the runner-up.
The largest electorate was in Bangalore North, Mysore, where 96,085 people were registered to vote.
The most crowded contest was in Kolar Gold Fields, Mysore, where 12 candidates stood.
The backdrop
The winning party was not alone — several smaller parties and independent candidates also won seats.