Lucknow/Bengaluru:
The BJP and its NDA allies won 16 of the 28 seats in the legislative council elections held across four states as the Congress drew a blank while the Samajwadi Party emerged winner in five seats in Uttar Pradesh, including two in Varanasi.
Results were declared in all but one seat – Nagpur Graduates’ constituency in Maharashtra which is heading for a nail-biting finish involving BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale and Congress’ sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari.
Two Independent candidates won in Bihar, where the Jan Suraaj Party opened its account while five sitting MLCs lost their seats.
In Karnataka, the ruling Congress suffered a massive setback as it failed to win any of the four seats. The BJP won three and the JDS one seat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Congress after its dismal show despite the use of paper ballots, a key demand of opposition parties in their campaign against EVMs.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won,” Modi said in a post on X.
The BJP-led ruling Mahayuti won two seats in Maharashtra while the Opposition NCP (SP) bagged two.
In Bihar, the BJP won three seats while the JD(U) and the RJD bagged one seat each.
Elections to the six teachers’ and five graduates’ constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, four each in Bihar, two each in Karnataka, and three graduates’ and two teachers’ constituencies in Maharashtra were held on October 23.
Counting was done since Tuesday.
Only graduate and teacher voters are eligible to participate in these elections. Ballot papers, rather than electronic voting machines, are used for polling.
The BJP also took on the Congress over its defeat, saying this makes it clear that the main opposition party cannot gain people’s support in elections, whether conducted using EVMs or ballot papers.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also targeted Rahul Gandhi over his party’s performance, saying he should realise that public support is earned through hard work, not through “leisure trips”.
The Congress hit back at Modi, saying if the prime minister is so confident that EVMs have no bearing on election results, he should prove his confidence in the BJP’s electoral prowess through action, not rhetoric.
It said he should commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections by ballot paper.
In Karnataka, the JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from the Congress. The BJP registered victory in North-East Teachers’, South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ constituencies, defeating the Congress candidates.
Although the outcome will not impact the Congress government’s stability, it is being seen as a result of BJP-JD(S) opposition consolidation and serves as a moral victory for the bloc.
While the results of Bengaluru Teachers’ and North-East Teachers’ constituencies were declared on Tuesday, the counting continued overnight in the other two segments, officials said on Wednesday.
Karnataka BJP chief B Y Vijayendra said the NDA’s victory is a rejection of the ruling Congress and a pointer to the 2028 assembly elections.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the Congress respectfully accepts the people’s verdict and acknowledged that the party fell short of its expectations. He also said the party would analyse the message given by the people and take corrective measures.
In Uttar Pradesh, SP’s Mansingh Yadav won from the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ constituency.
The BJP’s Manvendra Pratap Singh (Guruji) won the Agra Graduates’ constituency and also retained the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ seat, with its candidate Hari Singh Dhillon defeating SP nominee Danish Akhtar.
The BJP also won the Lucknow Teachers’ constituency, where its candidate Umesh Dwivedi defeated SP’s Sushil Kumar.
In Meerut, the BJP won both the Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies.
In the Gorakhpur-Faizabad division Teachers’ constituency, BJP’s Dhruv Kumar Tripathi won.
The Varanasi Teachers’ constituency was won by Samajwadi Party’s Lal Bihari Yadav.
In the Agra-Aligarh Teachers’ constituency, SP candidate Akash Agrawal defeated BJP nominee Hari Kishore Tiwari.
SP candidates won in Varanasi and Lucknow Graduates’ constituencies.
SP president Akhilesh Yadav urged winning party candidates to avoid victory processions and instead use social media to communicate their success to people.
In a post on X, he cautioned the winners against any activity that could cause disturbance, alleging that the BJP could attempt to create trouble and blame the SP for it ahead of the assembly elections due early next year.
Earlier, he shared on X a video in which the party’s winning candidate from Agra-Aligarh Teachers’ seat Akash Agrawal was seen wearing a torn kurta, with his supporters alleging that he was assaulted.
“Let the BJP explain how the treatment meted out by its people to SP MLC candidate, Dr. Akash Agrawal, who is winning from Agra, can be justified,” he said.
The former chief minister urged the Election Commission, the Supreme Court and the President to take cognisance of the matter immediately.
The MLC polls are being seen as a prestige battle between the ruling BJP and the opposition SP ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
In Maharashtra, Shiv Sena’s Kiran Sarnaik won the Amravati Teachers’ constituency.
In Pune Teachers’ constituency, BJP candidate Kaustubh Gawade won.
In the Pune Graduates’ constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav won.
In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Graduates’ constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil was the winner.
Jan Suraaj Party’s Suresh Prasad Rai defeated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha by 324 votes in the Darbhanga Teachers seat in Bihar.
BJP candidate Narendra Prasad Singh had on Tuesday trounced his nearest rival, independent nominee Bhushan Kumar Jha, to win the Tirhut Teachers’ constituency.
Two BJP MLCs, Sarvesh Kumar and N K Yadav, retained Darbhanga Graduates’ and Kosi Graduates’ seats, respectively.
In the Patna Graduates constituency, JD(U)’s Neeraj Kumar defeated the RJD candidate.
Fifth-term BJP MLC Nawal Kishor Yadav failed to retain Patna Teachers’ constituency, conceding the seat to Sanjeev Kumar of the RJD.
In the Saran Teachers constituency, sitting MLC Afaq Ahmed was defeated by independent candidate Rahul Raj.
Another Independent candidate Bansi Dhar Brajwasi retained the Tirhut Graduates’ constituency.
