National Conference wins a second term
What happened
Jammu & Kashmir National Conference held on to power again, still winning comfortably even as its main rival gained ground.
The JKN won 46 of the state's 76 seats — a landslide by seat share.
That was 7 seats clear of the 39-seat majority mark.
The Indian National Congress came a distant second with 25 seats.
What changed
The same party stayed in charge, but a real share of seats changed hands, and turnout climbed again.
28 of the state's 76 constituencies elected a different party than last time.
The biggest swing ran from the Janata Party to the INC, 9 seats at once.
Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — rose to 70.7%, a new high here.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from the results stand out.
The closest race anywhere was in Handwara, Jammu & Kashmir, decided by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 10.
Turnout peaked in Zainakadal, Jammu & Kashmir, where 92.7% of registered voters cast a ballot.
Zadibal, Jammu & Kashmir was the largest constituency by registered voters, with 64,380 names on the rolls.
The most crowded contest was Bhillawar, Jammu & Kashmir, where 19 candidates stood.
The backdrop
This was the second assembly election held since the political accord that reshaped the state's leadership.
On 24 February 1975, the Indira-Sheikh Accord ended Sheikh Abdullah's 22-year exclusion from office, restoring him as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. His revived National Conference then won 47 of 76 seats (46.2% of the vote) in the June 1977 assembly election, held after the central government pledged tighter safeguards against electoral rigging.