By IANS,
Toronto : Canada’s ruling Conservative Party has returned to power with a larger tally in the general elections, but short of the 155 mark needed for a simple majority in the 308-member House of Commons.
The party, which held 126 seats in the dissolved House of Commons, was on target to win 144 seats, at least 11 short of the majority mark. But it made inroads into areas where it had no presence till now.
The main opposition Liberal Party, which held 95 seats last time, was set to get only 75 seats this time. The smaller New Democratic Party (NDP) made major gains, on way to securing 38 seats.
The Toronto area, which has 22 seats in parliament, returned all the three sitting Indian-Canadian MPs. Ruby Dhalla, Navdeep Bains and Gurbax Malhi (all of the opposition Liberal Party) were returned with comfortable majorities.
Dhalla won the Brampton-Springdale seat for the third time, beating Parm Gill of the ruling Conservative Party and Mani Singh of the NDP.
Gurbax Malhi, who in 1993 became the first turbaned MP in Canada, won for the sixth time from Bramalea-Gore-Malton, polling 18,236 votes.
Navdeep Bains also won easily for the third time in Mississauga-Brampton South, garnering 17,201 votes this time.
However, Indian-Canadian MP and former Canadian health minister Ujjal Dosanjh was trailing in Vancouver South.
In the 308-member House of Commons, Ontario province has 106 seats, Quebec 75, Alberta 28, and British Columbia 36.
In the last House, the Conservative party held 41 seats in Ontario, 11 in Quebec and all 28 in Alberta.