Lucknow/Bengaluru, Oct. 28 -- The BJP and its National Democratic Alliance (NDA) partners won 16 of the 28 seats in legislative council elections across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka, while the Congress failed to secure a single victory in the contests where results have been declared. The Samajwadi Party (SP) emerged as a strong challenger in Uttar Pradesh, winning five seats, including two in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency Varanasi, as the results offered an early indication of political alignments ahead of crucial Assembly elections.

Counting, which began on Tuesday, continued into Wednesday for Maharashtra's Nagpur Graduates' constituency, where BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale and Congress sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari were locked in a close contest. The outcome remained undecided at the time of reporting.

The results triggered a political exchange over the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs), with Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting the Congress after the opposition party's poor performance in elections conducted using paper ballots.

"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 wrote on X.

BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, arguing that electoral support had to be earned through sustained political work rather than what he described as leisure trips.

The Congress responded by challenging Modi to commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming state assembly elections using paper ballots if he was confident that EVMs did not influence electoral outcomes.

Karnataka delivered one of the biggest setbacks for the ruling Congress, which lost all four seats contested in the legislative council polls. The BJP won three constituencies, while its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular), secured one.

The BJP won the North-East Teachers', South-East Graduates' and West Graduates' constituencies. The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers' seat from the Congress.

Although the results will not affect the Congress government's majority in the state assembly, the outcome represents a political gain for the BJP-JD(S) alliance, which has sought to consolidate opposition support against the ruling party.

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra described the results as a rejection of the Congress government and a sign of the political direction ahead of the 2028 assembly elections.

Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said his party respected the voters' decision and acknowledged that the results had fallen short of expectations. He said the Congress would examine the reasons for the losses and take corrective measures.

In Uttar Pradesh, where the legislative council elections have become a political contest ahead of the 2027 assembly polls, the SP secured five seats, while the BJP retained or captured several important constituencies.

SP candidate Mansingh Yadav won the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates' constituency. The party also secured the Varanasi Teachers' constituency through Lal Bihari Yadav and won the Varanasi and Lucknow Graduates' constituencies. Akash Agrawal defeated BJP nominee Hari Kishore Tiwari in the Agra-Aligarh Teachers' constituency.

The BJP won the Agra Graduates' seat through Manvendra Pratap Singh, retained the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers' constituency with Hari Singh Dhillon, and secured the Lucknow Teachers' seat through Umesh Dwivedi. The party also won both the Teachers' and Graduates' constituencies in Meerut and the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers' seat through Dhruv Kumar Tripathi.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav urged the winning candidates to avoid victory processions and communicate their success through social media, warning against activities that could disturb public order. He also alleged that SP candidate Agrawal had been assaulted, sharing a video in which the candidate appeared in a torn kurta. Yadav called on the Election Commission, the Supreme Court and the President to take cognisance of the matter.

In Maharashtra, the BJP-led Mahayuti secured two seats, while the opposition Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) faction won two. Shiv Sena candidate Kiran Sarnaik won the Amravati Teachers' constituency, and BJP nominee Kaustubh Gawade secured the Pune Teachers' seat. NCP (SP) candidates Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav and Pratapsinh Patil won the Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates' constituencies, respectively.

Bihar saw victories for the BJP, JD(U), RJD, Jan Suraaj Party and independent candidates. Jan Suraaj opened its account when Suresh Prasad Rai defeated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha by 324 votes in the Darbhanga Teachers' constituency.

The BJP retained the Darbhanga Graduates' and Kosi Graduates' seats through Sarvesh Kumar and N K Yadav. JD(U) candidate Neeraj Kumar won the Patna Graduates' seat, while the RJD's Sanjeev Kumar defeated five-term BJP MLC Nawal Kishor Yadav in the Patna Teachers' constituency.

Independent candidates Rahul Raj and Bansi Dhar Brajwasi won the Saran Teachers' and Tirhut Graduates' constituencies, respectively. The BJP also won the Tirhut Teachers' seat through Narendra Prasad Singh. Across Bihar, five sitting MLCs lost their seats, while two independent candidates emerged victorious.

MLC polls are indirect elections held via paper ballots to select Members of the Legislative Council (MLCs) for the permanent upper houses (Vidhan Parishad) of six states-Uttar Pradesh (100 seats), Maharashtra (78 seats), Karnataka (75 seats), Bihar (75 seats), Andhra Pradesh (58 seats), and Telangana (40 seats)-where a council's total strength must be at least 40 members and cannot exceed 1/3 of the state's total MLAs. To fill these seats for fixed six-year terms, the electorate is strictly restricted to separate professional and political categories: 1/3 are elected by state legislators (MLAs); another 1/3 are elected by local bodies, composed of elected municipal councillors, panchayat members, and district board delegates; 1/12 are elected by the "Graduates' constituency", consisting of state residents who have held a university degree for at least 3 years; and 1/12 are elected by the "Teachers' constituency", which comprises educators with a minimum of 3 years of experience in secondary schools or higher institutions. The remaining 1/6 of the members bypass elections entirely and are nominated directly by the Governor for outstanding contributions to fields like science, literature, art, social service, and the cooperative movement.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.