Indian National Congress held onto power in Madhya Pradesh's first election under the newly enlarged state, winning more seats than in any Madhya Pradesh election before it.

The INC won 232 of the 288 seats on offer.

That left it 87 seats clear of the majority mark.

Independent candidates were its next closest finisher, with 20 seats.

This was Madhya Pradesh's first election since the state itself was newly formed by merging several older territories into one.

The assembly grew from 232 to 288 seats.

70 of its 218 constituencies elected more than one member that year.

A few numbers from that election stand out.

Sirmaur, Madhya Pradesh was decided by just 2 votes — the smallest margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second, of any seat that year.

At the other extreme, Dantewara, Madhya Pradesh was won by the widest margin of any seat that year, measured as a share of the vote rather than in votes: 70.8%.

Burhanpur, Madhya Pradesh saw the highest turnout — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — of any seat that year, at 70.7%.

Turnout across the state as a whole was 37.9%.

Turnout figures for 2 constituencies could not be included in that state figure.

This election followed the 1956 reorganisation of India's states, which redrew Madhya Pradesh's own borders.