Janata Dal's landslide debut
What happened
A newly formed party won power in a landslide at its very first election.
The Janata Dal won 123 of the 147 seats on offer.
That was well clear of the 74-seat mark needed to govern alone.
The Indian National Congress suffered a collapse, falling to just 10 seats.
What changed
This win came through a coalition, not the party contesting alone.
It won as part of an alliance called the National Front — a group of parties that team up to fight an election together, and share power afterward if they win enough seats between them.
About 55.5% of registered voters turned out, up from the election before.
Notable numbers
A few numbers from that election stand out.
The closest race: Nilgiri, Odisha was decided by just 60 votes — the margin, how far ahead the winner finished, in votes, over whoever came second.
At the other extreme, Kodala, Odisha produced the widest margin of the election, at 85.1% of the vote — one of the most one-sided results anywhere in the state.
Rajnagar, Odisha recorded the highest turnout of the year — the share of registered voters who actually cast a ballot — at 74.8%.
At the other end, Chitrakonda, Odisha recorded the lowest turnout of the year, at just 31.5%.
The backdrop
Beyond the top two finishers, only a few smaller parties and independents picked up seats this time.
In all, 6 parties won seats, alongside 6 independents.