PTI
Lucknow/Bengaluru
The BJP and its NDA allies won 16 of the 28 seats in the legislative council elections held across four states as the Congress drew a blank while the Samajwadi Party emerged winner in five seats in Uttar Pradesh including two in Varanasi.
Results were declared in all but one seat – Nagpur Graduates’ constituency in Maharashtra which is heading for a nail-biting finish involving BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale and Congress’ sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari.
Two Independent candidates won in Bihar, where the Jan Suraaj Party opened its account while five sitting MLCs lost their seats.
In Karnataka, the ruling Congress suffered a massive setback as it failed to win any of the four seats. The BJP won three and the JDS one seat. Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Congress after its dismal show despite the use of paper ballots, a key demand of opposition parties in their campaign against EVMs.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won,” Modi said in a post on X.
The BJP-led ruling Mahayuti won two seats in Maharashtra while the Opposition NCP (SP) bagged two.
In Bihar, the BJP won three seats while the JD(U) and the RJD bagged one seat each.
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. Counting was done since Tuesday. Only graduate and teacher voters are eligible to participate in these elections. Ballot papers, rather than electronic voting machines, are used for polling.
The BJP also took on the Congress over its defeat, saying this makes it clear that the main Opposition party cannot gain people’s support in elections, whether conducted using EVMs or ballot papers.
The Congress hit back at Modi, saying if the prime minister is so confident that EVMs have no bearing on election results, he should prove his confidence in the BJP’s electoral prowess through action, not rhetoric.
It said he should commit to conducting all Lok Sabha and upcoming Vidhan Sabha elections by ballot paper.
In Karnataka, the JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from the 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.
