Congress returns under a new banner
What happened
A Congress-aligned party returned to power in Bihar, having been out of government since the previous election.
The Indian National Congress (I) won 169 of the 324 seats on offer.
That was 6 seats more than it needed for a majority.
Its closest challenger, the Janata Party (Secular) - Ch. Charan Singh, trailed far behind with 42 seats.
What changed
The party that had won Bihar's previous election saw its seats collapse, and a Congress-aligned successor moved into government.
Seats moved from the Janata Party to the INC(I) more than any other pairing — 111 of them switched this way.
Turnout also climbed to 56.5% of registered voters casting a ballot, the highest share Bihar had recorded to that point.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from this count stand out.
The closest race: Jamtara, Bihar was decided by just 24 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second.
At the other extreme, Barbigha, Bihar saw the widest margin of the election, with the winner finishing 65.3% of the vote ahead of the runner-up — measured as a share of the vote rather than in votes.
Muzaffarpur, Bihar drew the largest field of the election, with 24 candidates on the ballot.
The backdrop
This election came directly after Bihar's previous vote, when a different party had first taken charge of the state government.