Lucknow: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) appears to have fallen short of its expectations in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections, with the Samajwadi Party getting a boost ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. The SP looks set to win five seats, including the teachers constituency in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.
According to the latest trends, the BJP is on course to retain its tally of six seats out of the 11 graduates and teachers constituencies that went to the polls.
In the previous elections, the BJP had won six seats, the SP three, and Independents two.
The results are significant as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned for the BJP candidates on every seat, while the SP largely relied on its local leaders to mobilise support. Neither the Congress nor the Bahujan Samaj Party fielded candidates.
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, the SP has won the teacher constituency, while its candidate is also leading in the graduates constituency. The party had won both seats in the previous elections as well.
The Varanasi teachers constituency emerged as one of the most closely watched results. SP candidate Lal Bihari Yadav defeated BJP’s Pramod Mishra by around 5,000 votes, according to latest figures.
Yadav claimed his victory margin was five times larger than in the previous election, attributing the result to what he called growing dissatisfaction among people with the BJP.
Calling the result a major political message for the ruling party, Yadav challenged the BJP’s claim that educated voters and members of the intelligentsia remained firmly behind the state’s ruling party.
He alleged that the BJP government’s education policies had adversely affected the sector, citing the discontinuation of honorariums for teachers working in unaided institutions and modern teachers in madrasas.
Yadav also credited SP president Akhilesh Yadav and the trust placed in the party by teachers for his victory.
Also read: Maharashtra MLC polls once again expose Mahayuti cracks, push leaders into damage control mode
BJP retains its seats
In Lucknow, the BJP retained the teachers constituency, but the SP candidate Kanti Singh was leading in the graduates constituency, when the reports last came in. In Agra, the BJP won the graduates seat, while the SP secured the teachers constituency.
The BJP maintained its hold over both key constituencies in the Meerut-Saharanpur region. BJP candidate Shrichand Sharma won the Meerut teachers constituency with 18,099 votes, while Dinesh Kumar Goyal secured the Meerut graduates seat with 24,928 votes.
The party also won the Lucknow teachers constituency through Umesh Dwivedi and the Bareilly-Moradabad teachers seat through Hari Singh Dhillon.
The BJP’s inability to improve on its previous tally, despite Yogi Adityanath’s campaign, has drawn attention within political circles. Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya acknowledged the SP’s gains, saying the party had opened its account in a constituency where it was not expected to win viz Agra and Lucknow.
“The BJP has retained its tally, but the SP’s numbers have increased. The party (BJP) will deliberate on this,” Maurya told reporters on Wednesday.
SP spokesperson Pooja Shukla told ThePrint, “Incumbent governments generally have an advantage in MLC elections, particularly when the chief minister personally campaigns for candidates and monitors the polls. Despite this, the results are a boost for us ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections,”
“The BJP won the Gorakhpur seat through cheating. Otherwise, its tally would have been five, not six,” she alleged.
The SP can build on the momentum in Varanasi to challenge the BJP’s narrative ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, although the MLC results alone may not necessarily translate into similar electoral gains in the Assembly polls.
Counting disputes raises heat
The counting process also witnessed allegations of misconduct and irregularities.
In Agra, SP candidate Akash Agrawal alleged that he was assaulted and his kurta torn at the counting centre, holding BJP supporters responsible. BJP workers rejected the allegations, claiming that Agrawal had torn his own kurta. ThePrint has learnt that the police intervened after a heated exchange between the two sides.
In Gorakhpur, the SP alleged irregularities in the counting process and announced a boycott, claiming that the administration was attempting to favour the BJP candidate. These allegations could not be independently verified.
Meanwhile, SP candidate Maan Singh Yadav was leading in the Prayagraj-Jhansi graduates constituency, while Kanti Singh maintained an advantage in the Lucknow graduates constituency.
The final outcome across all 11 constituencies will be closely watched as both parties assess the results ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Here is seat-wise results/trends (as of 5 pm)
Varanasi teachers: Samajwadi Party’s Lal Bihari Yadav defeated BJP’s Pramod Mishra by around 5000 votes
Varanasi graduates: SP’s Ashutosh Sinha leading against BJP’s Kedar Nath Singh.
Meerut teachers: BJP’s Shrichand Sharma wins, secures 18,099 votes
Meerut graduates: BJP candidate Dinesh Kumar Goyal won the seat with 24,928 votes
Agra teachers: SP candidate Akash Agrawal defeats BJP’s Hari Kishore Tiwari
Agra graduates: BJP’s Dr Manvendra defeats SP’s Shashank Yadav
Gorakhpur-Faizabad teachers: BJP’s Dhruv Tripathi leading against Independent Rajiv Yadav
Lucknow teachers: BJP’s Umesh Dwivedi defeats SP’s Sushil Kumar Patel
Lucknow graduates: SP’s Kanti Singh leading against BJP’s Avnish Kumar Singh
Bareilly-Moradabad teachers: BJP’s Dr Hari Singh Dhillon defeats SP’ Danish Akhtar
Prayagraj-Jhansi graduates: SP’s Maan Singh Yadav leading against BJP’s Ashok Kumar Rathore
(Edited by Ajeet Tiwari)