Uttar Pradesh [India]: In Uttar Pradesh, vote counting is underway for 11 Legislative Council seats. A total of 152 candidates are in the fray across five graduates’ and six teachers’ constituencies. The UP MLC election recorded a voter turnout of 55.24% among 1,481,310 eligible voters.
The main contest is between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party, with independent candidates and party rebels also in the fray. One of the key battles is in the Gorakhpur-Faizabad teachers’ constituency, where Sanjayan Tripathi, a BJP rebel contesting on an SP ticket, is up against the BJP’s Dhruv Tripathi.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa has directed returning officers to ensure tight security, uninterrupted power supply, CCTV surveillance, videography and restricted entry at counting centres. Results are expected to be officially declared by the Election Commission of India by the evening.
The 11 MLC seats comprise five graduates’ constituencies – Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi – and six teachers’ constituencies, covering Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad. The election comes ahead of the expiry of the sitting members’ terms on December 6, 2026. The outgoing MLCs include six from the BJP, three from the SP and two independents.
[AIR News]