Republicans retain majority in House, Democrats in Senate

Washington

Democrats narrowly won majority in the US Senate while Republicans retained the control of the House of Representatives, leaving newly-elected President Barack Obama to deal with a divided Congress once again.

Apart from the Presidential polls in which Obama defeated Republican Mitt Romney, elections for 33 of 100 Senate seats were held along with all 435 seats of the House of Representatives.

Republicans have retained control of the House, while the Democratic Party of Obama managed to win majority in the Senate for the 113th Congress beginning next January, which would also have for the first time a Hindu-American  Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii.

Democrats had so far secured 52 seats to Republicans' 44 in the Senate, while Republicans in the House had at least 224 seats and Democrats 171.

Republicans fell short in their bid to win the Senate and take full control of Congress, two years after the party's gains in the midterm elections. Democrats also fell short of their goal to take control of the 435-member chamber.

While the Republican Party insisted that the result means that there is "no mandate for raising tax rates" on the American people, the Democratic Senate leadership said that this is time to put politics aside.

"Now that the election is over, it's time to put politics aside, and work together to find solutions. The strategy of obstruction, gridlock and delay was soundly rejected by the American people. Now, they are looking to us for solutions," the Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, said in a statement.

"We have big challenges facing us in the months ahead. Democrats and Republicans must come together, and show that we are up to the challenge. This is no time for excuses. This is no time for putting things off until later. We can achieve big things when we work together. And the middle class is counting on us to achieve big things in the months ahead," Reid said.

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