Uttar Pradesh MLC polls: BJP bags 6 of 11 seats, SP wins 3, leads in 2

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won 6 of the 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) secured three and is leading in the remaining two as counting continued in the Lucknow and Varanasi Graduates’ constituencies.

As of 8 pm on Wednesday, counting in the Lucknow Graduates' seat had crossed the eighth round. SP’s Kanti Singh was leading with 51,168 votes against BJP’s Avneesh Kumar Singh, who secured 36,313 votes. In the Varanasi Graduates' seat, the fifth round had concluded and counting for the next round had begun.

SP candidate Ashutosh Sinha, who had also won in 2020, was leading. BJP leaders, meanwhile, staged a protest alleging irregularities in counting and demanding a recount. Meanwhile, SP candidates and an Independent candidate had also reportedly alleged counting anomalies in the Gorakhpur Graduates' Constituency, reportedly announcing they would boycott counting.

The Election Commission had also directed the returning officer to examine the complaints. Late evening results, however, showed the BJP candidate winning the seat in a narrow fight. The outcomes in the two constituencies is set to determine the final tally.

If the SP wins both, it would increase its tally from three seats in the 2020 elections to five, while the BJP would retain six seats. Voting for 11 seats, comprising five graduate and six teachers' constituencies, was held on Friday.

The results come ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. While Legislative Council elections involve a different electorate and cannot be directly extrapolated to Assembly polls, the SP’s potential gains could boost the morale of its workers and give the party a political talking point ahead of the state’s next electoral contest.

On Tuesday, SP president Akhilesh Yadav had urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to take immediate cognisance of alleged delays in the counting of votes and ensure transparent results. In a post on X, Yadav had said, “CEC Gyanesh Kumar should take immediate cognisance of alleged delay in UP MLC vote counting, ensure transparent results,” he said.

The SP president alleged that the counting process was being deliberately slowed down and the Election Commission was not officially announcing the results of each round. On Wednesday, Yadav claimed victory for party candidate Akash Agrawal in the Agra Teachers' constituency and demanded that the administration issue him the certificate of election immediately.

He also shared a video on X in which Agrawal is seen wearing a torn kurta, while his supporters allege 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 immediately take cognisance of the matter. He said the entire society is deeply outraged by such “inhumane treatment” and “violence” against Agrawal.

“Even the Agrawal community has now realised that in truth, the BJP is no one’s ally,” he claimed. Maulshree Seth is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, based in Lucknow. With over 15 years ... Read More