Congress scores a duck in Karnataka; BJP bags 5 in UP

Bengaluru/Lucknow: The Congress drew a blank in Karnataka while the BJP won five legislative council seats in Uttar Pradesh and the Samajwadi Party three as results were announced on Wednesday for the biennial elections held in 28 upper house constituencies across four states.

Counting began on Tuesday and was still underway in some seats. Elections to the six teachers’ and five graduates’ constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, four each in Bihar, two each in Karnataka, and three graduates’ and two teachers’ constituencies in Maharashtra were held on October 23. Only graduate and teacher voters are eligible to participate in these elections. Ballot papers, rather than electronic voting machines, are used for polling. In Maharashtra, the BJP-led ruling Mahayuti was leading in three seats while the Opposition NCP (SP) was ahead in two seats.

The Jan Suraaj Party opened its account in Bihar, where the BJP, the JD(U), the RJD and an Independent have won one seat each.

The Congress suffered a setback in Karnataka, losing in all the four seats with the Opposition JD(S) wresting one segment from the ruling party and its ally BJP retaining three. The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency from Congress. The BJP registered victory in North-East Teachers’, South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ constituencies, defeating the Congress candidates. Although the outcome will not impact the Congress government’s stability, it is being seen as a result of BJP-JD(S) opposition consolidation and serves as a moral victory for the bloc. While the results of Bengaluru Teachers’ and North-East Teachers’ constituencies were declared on Tuesday, the counting continued overnight in the other two segments, officials said on Wednesday. Karnataka BJP chief B Y Vijayendra said the NDA’s victory is a rejection of the ruling Congress and a pointer to the 2028 assembly elections.

In Uttar Pradesh, SP’s Mansingh Yadav was declared elected from the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ constituency. The BJP’s Manvendra Pratap Singh (Guruji) won the Agra Graduates’ constituency.

The party also retained the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ seat, with its candidate Hari Singh Dhillon defeating SP nominee Danish Akhtar by 17,676 votes. The BJP also won the Lucknow Teachers’ constituency, where its candidate Umesh Dwivedi defeated SP’s Sushil Kumar by 6,992 votes.