India, May 18 -- With just over a week for the new House of Commons to begin its session, the ruling Liberal Party has inched closer towards a majority, just two short of the magic number.

The Liberals now have 170 seats in the 343-member House. The latest addition to their tally came on Friday as Elections Canada announced the result of a judicial recount for the riding (as constituencies are called in Canada) of Milton East-Halton Hills South in Ontario.

As the results of the April 28 election was declared, it appeared that Indo-Canadian Parm Gill had clinched the seat for the opposition Conservative Party but by a narrow margin. However, after Elections Canada validated the vote count, it flipped for his Liberal opponent Kristina Tes...