BJP all set to win UP MLC elections but loses key Varanasi seat

Weeks after its historic victory in the Assembly polls, the BJP is all set to win the biennial elections for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, counting for which are going on.

Despite the assured massive victory, the party has lost its seat in Varanasi, which is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home turf.

Of the 37 vacant seats vacant in the 100-membered Legislative Council, 36 went for votes on Saturday. The BJP is ahead in more than 30 seats and it seems that it will get a majority in the state’s Upper House as well, making it the first time in a long time that it will have majority in both Houses in the state.

There were 95 candidates in the fray and polling was held at 739 centres, according to the Uttar Pradesh chief electoral officer. As many as 1,20,657 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise. The voters in these elections are MPs, MLAs, urban corporators and village level representatives like pradhans.

Apart from the 30 seats where it is leading, the BJP has also won nine seats unopposed.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the victory has once again established that people of the state have faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modis leadership.

Annapurna Singh, the wife of jailed don Brijesh Singh, has won the Varanasi seat by a huge margin of 4,234 votes. Samajwadi Party’s Umesh Yadav came second in the region with 345 votes, followed by the BJP candidate Sudama Patel, who secured 170 votes.

The SP has not managed to win a single seat in the Legislative Council election so far. This is bad news since SP chief Akhilesh Yadav got a respectable tally of 111 seats in the Assembly elections, making it the main opposition party in the UP Assembly.

Also read: For Akhilesh Yadav and SP, more political challenges have just begun

In the 100-member Legislative Council, the BJP currently has 34 MLCs, the SP 17 and the Bahujan Samaj Party four. The Congress, the Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the NISHAD party have one member each in the House. The Teachers’ group has two MLCs, while the Independent group (Nirdal Samooh) and Independents have one MLC each. Currently, 38 seats are vacant. Chief Minister Adityanath vacated his council seat recently, while former leader of opposition Ahmad Hassan of the SP died in February.

The BJP won the Assembly polls for a record second term with 255 seats, helping Adityanath retain the UP CM’s chair.