Three in every 10 votes polled in the Lok Sabha election was in favour of the Congress, driving the party to its best performance in about two decades, while its main rival BJP put up its worst show in the same period.

Taking its individual tally to 206 seats, the Congress polled 28.55 per cent vote share in the elections for 15th Lok Sabha, up from 26.53 per cent in the last polls.

At the same time, BJP's vote share declined to 18.80 per cent from 22.16 per cent, while the total number of its seats declined to 116 from 138 in the last elections.

Congress' tally of 206 seats is the highest since 1991, when it had won 244, riding on the sympathy wave after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi. BJP had won 120 seats at that time.

Interestingly, BJP and CPI-M are the only two major parties, whose vote share has dipped since 2004 elections, while BSP, NCP, CPI and RJD have also polled a higher share of votes. The state and other parties together polled 36.42 per cent votes, as against 37.11 per cent in the last elections.

BJP suffered major setbacks in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa, where its alliance fell through with the BJD.

While BJD swept the assembly polls, it also emerged winners in the Lok Sabha polls with 14 out of 21 seats from the state. BJP could not win even a single seat, as against eight last time.