BJP and Samajwadi Party head for 6-5 split in Uttar Pradesh MLC polls

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won six of the 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) is set to win the remaining five, with the latest developments favouring the opposition party in Lucknow and Varanasi.

A senior district official said on Thursday that SP candidate Kanti Singh had won the Lucknow Graduates’ constituency and had been issued the certificate of election. The BJP candidate for the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency, Kedar Nath Singh, also conceded defeat.

Polling for the 11 Legislative Council seats was held on October 23, and counting began on Tuesday.

By the end of Wednesday, the BJP had won the Agra Graduates’ constituency, Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ constituency, Lucknow Teachers’ constituency, Meerut Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies, and Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency.

The SP had won the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ constituency and the Varanasi and Agra-Aligarh Teachers’ constituencies.

According to data shared earlier, Kanti Singh had received 51,168 votes against 36,313 secured by BJP nominee Avneesh Kumar Singh in the Lucknow Graduates’ constituency after more than eight rounds of counting.

In the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency, SP candidate Ashutosh Sinha had received 50,462 votes against 33,478 secured by BJP candidate Kedar Nath Singh after the ninth round of counting of first-preference votes, according to the data.

Kedar Nath Singh announced his decision to concede defeat in a social media post. He thanked voters for their support and said he accepted the mandate with humility and in accordance with democratic norms.

“Although we could not achieve the expected success in this election, your affection, cooperation and trust will always remain invaluable to me,” the BJP candidate said in Hindi.

He also thanked BJP and alliance leaders, workers and supporters, adding that he would continue to work for the interests and concerns of the Graduates’ community.

“The commitment to public service does not depend on an election result,” he added.

The MLC elections were seen as a prestige battle between the BJP and the SP ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.

Before the polls, the BJP held six of the 11 seats: the Agra, Meerut-Saharanpur and Lucknow Graduates’ seats, and the Bareilly-Moradabad, Lucknow and Meerut-Saharanpur Teachers’ constituencies.

The SP held three seats: the Varanasi and Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ seats, and the Varanasi Teachers’ constituency.

The remaining two seats, the Agra and Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituencies, were held by Independents.

(With inputs from agencies)