A bigger Punjab, a bigger win
What happened
Indian National Congress extended its hold on power in a newly enlarged Punjab, winning by a landslide.
The INC took 120 of the 154 seats in the assembly.
Its nearest rival, the Independent, won only 13 seats.
INC's vote share — the slice of all ballots cast that went to one party or candidate — came to 47.5%.
What changed
This was the first election held on Punjab's enlarged map, after the state absorbed a neighbouring princely-state union.
The assembly grew from 126 to 154 seats to match the larger state.
33 of the 121 constituencies still used the multi-member design that had also applied in 1951.
Notable numbers
A handful of individual results from that count stand out.
The tightest finish was Bhatinda, Punjab, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 79 votes.
At the other end, Sultanpur, Punjab produced the widest margin of the election, with the winner ahead by 48.6% of the vote.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — peaked in Sambhalka, Punjab, at 77.8%.
The most crowded ballot was in Sirsa, Punjab, where 16 candidates stood for one seat.
The backdrop
Punjab's map had just been redrawn, folding in a former princely-state union under national reorganisation.
On 1 November 1956, the Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) — formed in 1948 from eight princely states including Patiala, Nabha and Kapurthala — was merged into Punjab under the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. The enlarged state's first assembly election under this map was held in 1957.