Ottawa: Canadians returned Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to power Monday in hotly contested elections against a rookie conservative leader, but he failed to gain an absolute majority, according to projections by television networks.
"Thank you, Canada — for casting your vote, for putting your trust in the Liberal team, for choosing a brighter future. We're going to finish the fight against COVID. And we're going to move Canada forward. For everyone", Trudeau wrote on Twitter.
Incumbent Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's ruling Liberal Party and the Erin O'Toole-led Conservative Party were locked neck-and-neck and bounced back and forth in the lead position, with each claiming between 30 per cent and 32 per cent support in public polling.
To form a majority government, the Liberals would need to win 170 seats.
At 49, Trudeau had faced tougher political bouts and still came out unscathed.
As many as 49 Indian-origin candidates were in the fray in the 2021 snap polls. In the last elections in 2019, 20 Indo-Canadians, including 19 Punjabis, were elected as MPs and four of them became Cabinet ministers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called a snap election last month to seek a majority in the 338-member House of Commons as his Liberal Party was 13 short of the majority mark of 170.
He however failed to get the majority and will form a minority government.
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