The largest party kept its position for a third straight election, but a brand-new regional party immediately became its closest rival.

The Indian National Congress won 22 seats this time, down from 25 at the last election.

Its newest challenger, the Hill People Union, won 19 seats in its very first election.

This election's clearest pattern ran the other way from most: seats moved away from the largest party itself.

The single biggest flip sent seats from INC to HPU.

7 seats moved that way.

Two of the state's older parties also saw their own standing collapse this year.

A few numbers from this election are worth knowing on their own.

The tightest finish was in Kherapara, Meghalaya, where the top two finishers were separated by a margin — how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second — of just 0 votes, a virtual dead heat.

The most one-sided contest was Pariong, Meghalaya, won by 48.1% of the vote.

Turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — was highest in Nongbah-Wahiajer, Meghalaya, at 90.7%.

The largest electorate of the night was in Nongstoin, Meghalaya, with 23,371 people on the rolls.

The state's party map kept reshuffling from one election to the next, with new regional parties regularly displacing older ones.