Samajwadi Party Secures Five MLC Seats, Retains Edge for LoP Position in Uttar Pradesh

The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won five of the 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) seats that went to polls, increasing its strength in the Upper House to 12 members and securing the numbers required to retain the position of Leader of the Opposition (LoP).

The results, declared on Thursday after an extended 55-hour counting process, indicate a shift in the balance between the SP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). While the SP expanded its presence, the BJP managed to retain its overall tally of six seats.

The SP retained both its seats in Varanasi, wrested the Lucknow Graduates’ constituency from the BJP and won the Agra Teachers’ seat, previously held by an Independent candidate. The BJP retained four of the six Teachers’ constituencies, along with the Meerut and Agra Graduates’ seats.

In the 2020 elections, the BJP had won six seats, the SP three and Independents two.

Varanasi Victories Boost SP Performance

The SP’s success in Varanasi played a crucial role in its overall performance, with the party retaining both the Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituencies.

In the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency, sitting SP MLC Ashutosh Sinha defeated BJP candidate Kedarnath Singh following a prolonged counting process that lasted more than 55 hours. Supporters and leaders of both parties maintained a vigil outside the counting centre as the closely contested result remained uncertain.

In the Varanasi Teachers’ constituency, sitting SP MLC Lal Bihari Yadav secured re-election.

The twin victories prevented the BJP from making gains in Varanasi and enabled the SP to maintain its existing representation in the region while expanding its presence elsewhere.

SP Makes Key Gains in Lucknow and Agra

The SP’s most significant victory against the BJP came in the Lucknow Graduates’ constituency, where party candidate Kanti Singh defeated BJP nominee Avneesh Kumar Singh by 14,855 votes.

Kanti Singh secured 51,168 votes, compared with 36,313 votes for her BJP rival.

The victory strengthened the SP’s position in the Graduates’ category, where it won three of the five constituencies.

The party’s other gain came in the Agra Teachers’ constituency, where Akash Agarwal emerged victorious with 14,046 votes. The seat had previously been represented by an Independent candidate.

BJP Retains Two Graduates’ Seats

The SP secured three of the five Graduates’ constituencies — Allahabad-Jhansi, Varanasi and Lucknow — while the BJP retained the remaining two.

BJP candidates Dinesh Kumar Goyal and Manvendra Pratap Singh won the Meerut and Agra Graduates’ constituencies, respectively.

The SP’s performance in this category was instrumental in improving its overall tally, with the party retaining two constituencies and gaining one from the BJP.

BJP Dominates Teachers’ Constituencies

The BJP performed relatively better in the Teachers’ category, winning four of the six constituencies, while the SP secured the remaining two.

The BJP retained the Lucknow Teachers’ seat through Umesh Dwivedi, the Meerut Teachers’ seat through Shrichand Sharma and the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ seat through Hari Singh Dhillon.

It also won the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency through Dhruv Kumar Tripathi following a closely contested election.

The four victories helped the BJP maintain its overall strength of six seats despite losing the Lucknow Graduates’ constituency to the SP.

Stronger Position Ahead of 2027 Assembly Elections

The improved tally gives the SP a stronger position in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. With 12 members, the party is set to remain above the 10-member threshold required to retain the Leader of the Opposition position.

Party sources indicated that SP president Akhilesh Yadav is likely to visit Varanasi soon following the results.

Reacting to the outcome on Thursday, Yadav said the BJP’s defeat reflected public dissatisfaction with its policies concerning teachers, students and education. He also said educated unemployed graduates had delivered a verdict against the ruling party.

Yadav further alleged that the BJP had secured victories through electoral manipulation and claimed that internal differences within the party had intensified tensions within the government.

He maintained that none of the SP candidates had genuinely lost, arguing that they should be considered winners despite not receiving official victory certificates.

For the BJP, the results represent a mixed outcome. Although it retained its overall tally of six seats and won four of the six Teachers’ constituencies, its defeat in the strategically important Lucknow Graduates’ seat has strengthened the SP’s position in the Legislative Council.