New Delhi, Dec 4 (IANS): By retaining Madhya Pradesh and winning in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, the BJP is now in power in 12 states across the country, while the Congress reduced to power in only three states.

The BJP retained Madhya Pradesh with a brute majority of 165 seats in the 230-member Assembly. The saffron party also won in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan with a massive mandate.

On the other hand, the Congress, with its victory in Telangana, is now in power in three states across the country besides Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.

The grand old party was hoping for a second term in Chhattisgarh as well as Rajasthan, but its dreams shattered after it failed to get the mandate.

Besides the three states, where the elections results were announced on Sunday, BJP is in the power on its own in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Goa, Assam, Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

The saffron party is also part of the ruling coalition in four states -- Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Sikkim.

The states ruled by the BJP-led NDA will now account for almost half of the 543 Lok Sabha seats, while only two states, accounting for less than 50 Lok Sabha seats, are now governed by parties not aligned with either the NDA or the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) of opposition parties.

The Congress is also part of the ruling coalitions in Bihar with Grand Alliance partners -- RJD and the JD-U and Jharkhand with the JMM. It is also an ally of the DMK, which is in power in Tamil Nadu. However, the Congress is not part of the Tamil Nadu government.

Meanwhile, the AAP, with its governments in Delhi and Punjab, is the third biggest national party.