BJP wins 6 out of 11 MLC seats, SP bags 3

Out of the five graduates’ constituency seats in the Council, the BJP won three and the SP two, while out of the six teachers’ constituency seats, the BJP bagged three, the SP one and independents two.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday won six out of the total 11 MLC seats in polls for the teachers’ and graduate constituency seats of the state legislative council. Of the 11 seats, the BJP contested nine and backed an independent for the teachers’ quota seat in Gorakhpur. .

Political experts said the BJP’s aggressive foray in these polls, where it got its top state leaders to campaign for the first time, was set to impact teachers’ politics in the state. (Ravindra Joshi/HT file photo. Representative image)

Out of the 11 seats, the Samajwadi Party won a total of three and the independents two, according to the final results of the biennial elections held last Tuesday.

Out of the five graduates’ constituency seats in the Council, the BJP won three and the SP two, while out of the six teachers’ constituency seats, the BJP bagged three, the SP one and independents two.

Following the declaration of the results for the 11 legislative council seats, the tally of BJP in the 100-member Upper House of the state rose to 25 from 19, SP’s to 55 from 52 and independents to four from two.

“Despite desperate efforts to rig the polls by misusing official machinery, the BJP has suffered reverses from Jhansi till Kashi. The Samajwadi Party’s symbol cycle raced ahead triumphantly and is well set to win the 2022 assembly polls. The party’s popularity is growing and it has started showing too,” SP MLC Sunil Yadav said.

Reacting to the party’s performance in the polls, UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said, “In the teachers’ constituencies, three out of 4 candidates fielded by the BJP won. The BJP contested this polls for the first time.”“This has been a historic performance for the BJP. In the Graduates’ constituency, the BJP won three seats,” he added.

Political experts said the BJP’s aggressive foray in these polls, where it got its top state leaders to campaign for the first time, was set to impact teachers’ politics in the state. “It’s now clear that like these polls, the BJP would aggressively contest the panchayat polls, too, where a good show would definitely provide a psychological edge to the party ahead of the 2022 UP assembly polls,” said Irshad Ilmi, a veteran political observer.

“The results would impact teachers’ politics both inside and outside the UP Legislative Council,” agreed SK Dwivedi, a retired head of the department of political science in Lucknow University.