BJP loses both seats in Modi's Varanasi, shocking results Akhilesh's SP's

BS News Agency: A sign of a big political equation in state politics ahead of next year's high-voltage Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) surprised everyone with eye-catching results in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) elections. Especially in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's own Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi, the ruling BJP has suffered a big setback in both the teacher and graduate seats. The Samajwadi Party is on track to win the Varanasi teacher and graduate seats as well.

However, judging by the overall results, the saffron camp has maintained its dominance by winning 5 out of the 11 legislative council seats in the state and leading in 1. The BJP has won several places including Lucknow, Meerut-Saharanpur, Bareilly.

Why so much practice in Varanasi? Know the equation

Since the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat is the heartland of Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, the entire country was paying special attention to this Vidhan Parishad election. In the Varanasi Teachers' Legislative Council (MLC) seat, Samajwadi Party candidate Lal Bihari Yadav defeated BJP-backed candidate Pramod Kumar Mishra by a huge margin of 4,898 votes. Lal Bihari had won in 2020 too, but this time he increased the margin of victory many times over and pushed the BJP on the backfoot. On the other hand, SP's Ashutosh Sinha secured victory in the Varanasi Graduate seat by a huge margin against BJP's senior candidate Kedarnath Singh.

What are these Teachers' and Graduates' Legislative Council elections?

Such special seats are available only in states that have a bicameral legislature (Assembly and Legislative Council). The idea of ​​the framers of the constitution was to send non-partisan and impartial representatives to the legislature through educated voters so that the influence of caste, money or muscle power could be reduced.

In this election, only registered teachers and candidates can vote through the Preference Voting system.

General voters do not participate in this election.

Before the 2027 assembly elections, Akhilesh was given extra oxygen. In addition to Varanasi, several districts like Chandauli, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Bhadohi and Balia fall under the Varanasi division. As a result, the success of the Samajwadi Party in this vast region has greatly boosted the morale of the Akhilesh Bhavan. A section of SP leaders claim that after Modi's margin of victory in Varanasi narrowed in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, this election proved that the political equation at the grassroots level has started to change.

 Although the BJP is ahead overall, keeping its strongholds in western and northern Uttar Pradesh intact, it goes without saying that Akhilesh Yadav's pawn in Modi's own formation has made the fight to capture Uttar Pradesh in 2027 even more exciting.