The UDF returns to power
What happened
The opposition front won back power, unseating the government that had run the state since the previous election.
The Indian National Congress's alliance, the UDF — a group of parties that contest together and share power if they win enough seats between them — took 96 of the 140 seats.
That was comfortably past the 71-seat majority mark needed to govern.
What changed
The party that came out on top this time had performed far worse at the previous election.
It went from 37 seats then to 62 seats this time.
A few smaller parties — JD(S), NCP, and RSPK(B) — won a seat in the Keralam assembly for the first time.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from this election stand out.
The tightest finish was at Sreekrishnapuram, Keralam, decided by just 21 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second.
About 72.4% of registered voters turned out to cast a ballot, up +3.4 pp from the previous election.
Turnout was highest at Thodupuzha, Keralam, where 83.6% of voters cast a ballot.
Trippunithura, Keralam had the largest electorate of any seat that year, with 2,14,469 registered voters.
The backdrop
This contest played out inside the same two-front rivalry that had shaped elections here for years.