NEW DELHI >> India’s main opposition Congress party wrested control of the crucial southern Karnataka state from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist party, according to a nearly complete vote count Saturday that boosted its prospects ahead of national elections due next year.

The poll results are expected to energize the largely divided opposition that is banking on forming a united front to challenge Modi in next year’s general election in which he will seek to extend his prime ministership for a third consecutive term. They also will help prospects of the Congress party, which was routed by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party in the last two national polls and is striving to regain its political prominence nationwide.

The defeat in Karnataka means Modi’s party, which was banking on his popularity, has lost the only southern state it ever controlled and where its strident Hindu nationalist politics has found relatively slower reception than the rest of the nation.

Over the past several weeks, Modi had campaigned aggressively in Karnataka, home to 65 million people, and crisscrossed the state by holding huge roadshows.

With vote counting continuing, India’s Election Commission said the Congress had crossed the majority mark of 113 in the state assembly by winning 123 seats and leading in 12 other constituencies. Modi’s party won or was leading in 64 seats. Another regional party, the Janata Dal (Secular), won 20 seats.