Washington: In a historic victory, ruling Republicans on November 6 took full control of the US Congress wresting the Senate and increasing their majority in the House of Representatives, giving a major boost to President George W Bush in the middle of his four-year term.

All four Indian Americans who contested in November 5 elections have lost. They are Vij Pawar, Syed Mahmood, Stuart Johnson and Ayesha Nariman.

The Republicans were also buoyed by the re-election of Jeb Bush, the President's younger brother as Governor of Florida.

The Opposition Democrats, however, found some consolation in gubernatorial races where they are expected to reduce Republicans 27/21 advantage. They achieved key gains in the industrial North taking the states of Illinois, Pennsylavania and Michigan.

The Republicans' gains in Congress marked the reversal of historical trends where the party in the White House officially loses seats in the mid-term races.

The outcome of the election meant that Bush is only the third US President in the century to make mid-term gains, after Franklin Roosevelt in 1934 and Bill Clinton in 1998.

The Republicans captured their 50th Senate seat in November 5 mid-term elections in Missouri where Democrat incumbent Jean Carnahan, wife of Mel Carnahan who was killed in a plane crash shortly before the 2000 elections, conceded to Republican rival Jim Talent.

This gives Vice President Dick Cheney the tie-breaking vote effectively giving the Republicans a majority in the 100-seat chamber.

PTI