Dealing a body blow to President Barack Obama, angry US voters delivered a stunning defeat to his Democratic Party handing control of the House of Representatives to opposition Republicans, who also made big gains in the powerful Senate.

Days before his maiden visit to India, Obama tasted defeat at the US mid-term polls, seen as a referendum on his economic policies that had promised recovery to the recession-hit American economy.

The Democrats managed to maintain their hold in the Senate but with reduced majority.

Millions of Americans voted on Tuesday for all the 435 seats in the House of Representatives; 37 of the 100 Senate seats, 37 State Governors, besides a large number of State and local elections.

In the House of Representatives, the Democratic Party, before the polls, had 235 seats, while the Republicans had 178, with two vacancies. In the 100-member Senate, the Democrats had 59 seats, while the Republicans had 41.

According to latest figures, the Republicans had 46 seats in the US Senate against 51 for the Democrats out of 100 seats total, with three seats still in dispute.

In the House, the Republicans won at least 239 of the 435 seats, while Democrats got 184. Twelve seats are still in dispute.

Riding a wave of Republican enthusiasm across the country, the party also picked up 10 governorships, including in South Carolina where Indian-American Nikki Haley emerged victorious.

38-year-old Haley scripted history by becoming only the second person of Indian-origin to be a Governor of an American state after Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

Haley received 52 percent of votes against her Democratic rival Vincent Sheehan who polled 46 percent.

Six other Indian-origin candidates in the fray for the House seats suffered defeats in the polls.

Another Indian-American Kamala Harris won the election for Attorney General of California.

She will be the first woman to hold the office of Attorney General in California, elections for which were held Tuesday.

Daughter of an Indian mother and African-American father, Kamala is currently the San Francisco Attorney General.

She would replace Democratic Jerry Brown who won the election for Governor of California on Tuesday.

As the election results became clear, Obama phoned Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the likely new House Speaker John Boehner.

They had a brief but pleasant conversation, according to Boehner’s aides.

They also discussed working together to focus on top priorities of the American people, which Boehner has identified as creating jobs and cutting spending. Boehner thanked the President for the call.

Obama, who is to embark on a 10-day four-nation Asia tour beginning with India from 6th November, also called the current House Democratic leadership, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

The White House said Obama told the Republicans that he is looking forward to working with them “to find common ground, move the country forward and get things done for the American people.”

In one of the biggest losses for Democrats, the House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt was defeated in South Carolina and Armed Services Committee Chairman Ike Skelton, a 17-term incumbent, also had to bite the dust in the polls.

Obama’s party, however, managed to retain the Senate majority. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and senior party Senator from California Barbara Boxer won in a tough contest.

Republicans defeated Senators Russ Feingold in Wisconsin and Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas.

They also won the Illinois Senate seat, which was once held by Obama, in what is being seen as a symbolic defeat for the President.

“The outcome of the election does not diminish the work we have done for the American people. We must all strive to find common ground to support the middle class, create jobs, reduce the deficit and move our nation forward,” outgoing House Speaker Pelosi said in a statement.

Boehner, who is expected to succeed Pelosi, proclaimed the midterm elections “a repudiation of Washington” and said voters had sent a message to President Obama to “change course.”

“Across the country right now we’re witnessing a repudiation of Washington, a repudiation of big government and a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the American people,” Boehner said.

Republican leader Sarah Palin, who is eyeing the White House in 2012, has described the election outcome as an “earthquake”.

“To me that’s an earthquake. It is a huge message sent,” the charismatic former Alaska governor, who is now likely to be urged to run for President in the wake of the strong showings by Republicans in the polls, said.

“It is a shake-up and then we’re going to see some of the shake-up in the Senate too,” 46-year-old Palin said.

It feels bad, says Obama after defeat

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that voters frustrated by the pace of economic recovery dictated a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in elections, adding, “As president I take responsibility” for a failure to restore job growth more quickly.

Obama ruefully called the Republican victories in Tuesday’s election “a shellacking.”

The President opened his post-election news conference by saying voters who felt frustrated by the sluggish pace of economic recovery had dictated the Republican takeover in the House.

Asked to reflect on the returns, he said, “I feel bad,” adding that many Democrats who went down to defeat had done so knowing they risked their careers to support his agenda of economic stimulus legislation and a landmark healthcare Bill.

The President said he was eager to sit down with the leaders of both political parties “and figure out how we can move forward together.”

“It won’t be easy,” he said, noting the two parties differ profoundly in some key areas.

The election was a humbling episode for the once-high-flying President, and the change showed during his news conference.

Largely absent were his smiles and buoyant demeanour, replaced by sombreness and an acknowledgment that his policies may have alienated some Americans.

“I think people started looking at all this, and it felt as if government was getting much more intrusive into people’s lives than they were accustomed to,” he conceded. But he wasn’t talking surrender either.

He sought to tread a careful line, suggesting he would cooperate with Republicans where it was possible and confront them when it was not.

“No one party will be able to dictate where we go from here,” he said, a clear warning to Republicans that he won’t simply bow to their demands for a sharply conservative switch in economic policy.

With his comments, Obama largely followed the lead of Republican leaders who said earlier in the day they were willing to compromise — within limits.

With unemployment at 9.6 percent, both the President and the Republicans will be under pressure to compromise.

Yet neither must lose faith with core supporters — the Republicans with the ultraconservative Tea Party activists who helped them win power, Obama with the voters whose support he will need in 2012.

The President said the economy had begun a recovery since he took office but Americans became wary when they saw government bailouts of failing banks and two of the Big Three U.S. automakers.

“I think people started looking at all this, and it felt as if government was getting much more intrusive into people’s lives than they were accustomed to,” he conceded.

Many Republicans campaigned by calling for repeal of the health care legislation Obama won from Congress, but the President said repeal was a nonstarter.

“If Republicans have some ideas” for cutting costs of health care or making other changes in the Bill, he said he would be glad to take a look.