MLC Poll Results: BJP Retains 13 Seats but Suffers Net Loss; Defeat In Varanasi, SP's Rise in UP, Nagpur A Bigger Concern

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged as the single largest party in the biennial Legislative Council (MLC) elections across four states on Thursday, winning 13 out of 28 contested seats independently and 16 along with its allies. However, the tally represents a net decline from the 18 seats previously held by the party and its coalition partners across the same constituencies.

Amidst the celebrations, the under current should worry the BJP leadership. One, it lost Varanasi (the constituency of the prime minister) and Nagpur (the headquarter of BJP and home turf of Maharashtra chief minister) and second concern is that Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party made a dent in BJP’s vote bank in Uttar Pradesh.

The election results across 28 graduate and teacher constituencies in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, and Karnataka delivered a mixed electoral landscape. While the BJP-JD(S) alliance achieved a clean sweep in Karnataka, high-profile losses in Varanasi, Nagpur, and Patna underlined localized erosion in long-held party strongholds.

Net Seat Decline for BJP Across Key States

Prior to these elections, the BJP individually held 15 of the 28 contested seats across the four states, while its alliance partners held another three, bringing the coalition's total to 18 seats.

By securing 13 seats independently and 16 in alliance, the BJP-led coalition suffered a net loss of two seats overall, with the BJP itself losing ground in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Maharashtra.

• Uttar Pradesh: The BJP previously held eight of the 11 contested seats. Its tally dropped to six in this election cycle, resulting in a net loss of two seats.

• Bihar: The NDA held five of the eight seats prior to the election, but saw its count fall to three (BJP 2, JD(U) 1), marking a net loss of two seats.

• Maharashtra: The BJP previously held two of the five seats up for election, but secured only one seat (Amravati Teachers' won by ally Shiv Sena, while BJP lost Nagpur).

• Karnataka: The BJP successfully defended all three of its incumbent seats, while ally JD(S) flipped the lone Congress-held seat, making Karnataka the only state where the NDA registered a net gain.

Samajwadi Party Drives Net Gains in Uttar Pradesh

In Uttar Pradesh, where 11 Legislative Council seats went to the polls across five graduate and six teacher constituencies, the Samajwadi Party (SP) capitalized on the BJP's decline by winning five seats.

The most significant shift occurred in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency, where SP candidate Lal Bihari Yadav wrested the Varanasi Teachers' seat from the BJP. The Samajwadi Party also registered victories in Agra, Lucknow, and Allahabad-Jhansi. The SP increased its hold from two seats to five, signaling traction among educated urban voters ahead of future state assembly contests.

High-Profile Losses in Nagpur and Patna Bastions

The election cycle was marked by defeats for long-standing incumbents in traditional party strongholds:

In Maharashtra, the BJP lost the Nagpur Graduates' constituency—the home turf of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, and the RSS headquarters. Congress candidate Abhijeet Vanjari retained the seat by defeating BJP's Sudhakar Kohale by 3,271 votes following a 40-hour counting process.

In Bihar, five-term BJP MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav lost the Patna Teachers' seat after holding it for nearly three decades, unseated by RJD candidate Dr. Sanjeev Singh. Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party also made its legislative entry by taking the Darbhanga Teachers' seat from the traditional party structure.