New Delhi: Sometimes in politics, the timing and the message matter far more than the final outcome. There couldn’t have been a more favourable combination for the opposition Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh with just three months left before the state Assembly election.The Samajwadi Party has not only retained the three seats it previously held, but has also secured two additional seats in the Legislative Council (MLC) elections for teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies. The Akhilesh Yadav-led party captured symbolically key division constituencies of Varanasi, Lucknow, Allahabad and Agra.Meanwhile the BJP, which merely managed to retain its previous tally of six seats, received a massive scare in Chief Minister Adityanath’s home bastion. It won the Gorakhpur-Faizabad division teachers’ constituency by a razor-thin margin of 2,390 votes amidst serious allegations of counting irregularities.The Gorakhpur win lost its lustre for the BJP because, among all 11 seats, it clocked the lowest victory margin. By contrast, the highest margin of victory in Uttar Pradesh was on the Allahabad–Jhansi seat, taken by Samajwadi Party – 27,663 votes ahead of. The final tally: the BJP won six of the 11 MLC seats, while the Samajwadi Party secured five. The Samajwadi Party claimed victory in Agra Teachers and Lucknow Graduates, alongside Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates and both seats in Varanasi, wresting one seat directly from the BJP and another previously held by an independent candidate.File photo: Bharatiya Janata Party candidate Kedarnath Singh, center, accompanied by party leaders, during a procession to file his nomination papers for the Varanasi Division Graduate Constituency in the Legislative Council (MLC) elections, in Varanasi, October 5, 2026. He did not ultimately succeed in the election. Photo: PTI.MLC elections for teachers’ and graduates’ constituencies do not carry the same political weight as an Assembly election. The electorate is highly qualified and restricted, meaning it does not represent a broader public mandate. Yet, the symbolism of these results is lost on no one.The modest scale of the election is eclipsed by its timing and relevance in projecting momentum ahead of the upcoming Assembly campaign.The BJP has, once again, failed to win either seat in the Varanasi Division, which encompasses the Lok Sabha constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party also conceded a seat in the Lucknow Division and it came dangerously close to losing in the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Division – a region that includes the important political centres of Gorakhpur and Ayodhya.Crucially, these setbacks occurred despite Adityanath campaigning as though it were a full general election campaign. He addressed big public rallies and events across Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Mirzapur and Bareilly between October 12 and 17, whereas his counterpart Akhilesh Yadav barely campaigned.The Varanasi Division constituency spans eight districts in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Varanasi and Mirzapur, where the chief minister campaigned vigorously. The Gorakhpur-Faizabad Constituency covers 17 districts, and includes major districts Gorakhpur, Ayodhya and Azamgarh.Allegation of misuse of state machineryGiven widespread allegations of the alleged misuse of state machinery and questions about the integrity of electoral rolls throughout the campaign, securing five out of 11 seats comes as a massive triumph for the Samajwadi Party. It has given the party’s supporters a major boost ahead of the Assembly polls.On the other hand, while the BJP managed to keep six seats, it suffered severe cuts and bruises, the repercussions of which will likely reverberate in the coming weeks.Also read: UP MLC Polls: Were BJP Booths Allowed to Be Closer to Polling Centres than Samajwadi Party’s?The election for the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ seat was marred by claims of ballot tampering and fraud. Preceding it were weeks of internal factionalism within the ruling party.Calculated risk-taking in GorkahpurThe Samajwadi Party executed a calculated gamble in Gorakhpur, where it had initially nominated Rajiv Yadav, state general secretary of the UP Madhyamik Shikshak Sangh. However, after the BJP denied a ticket to educationist and local leader Sanjayan Tripathi in favour of sitting independent MLC Dhruv Tripathi, Sanjayan rebelled and left the BJP with a “heavy heart”.Upon quitting, he alleged that BJP leaders “sitting in comfortable AC rooms” were ignoring ground workers and undermining party loyalty. Sensing an opening to exploit rivalries amongst members of the Brahmin caste in the Gorakhpur belt, the Samajwadi Party quickly poached Sanjayan and declared him its official candidate in place of Rajiv Yadav.Rajiv Yadav, nonetheless, stayed in the race as an independent, nearly pulling off a shock victory in a tense three-way contest. Ultimately, the BJP’s Dhruv Tripathi defeated Rajiv Yadav by a mere 307 votes, while Sanjayan finished third.The Gorakhpur-Faizabad contest grew even more dramatic when popular four-time sitting BJP MLC Devendra Pratap Singh issued cryptic public appeals urging the teaching community to vote against the ruling party. In a letter dated November 19, Singh called on teachers to punish the “injustice” and “disrespect” directed at his long-standing struggles for their cause.“My memorable struggle for justice has been disrespected. I urge all my fellow teachers, those who yearn for justice, those who believe in my struggle, those who have affection, respect and a sense of belonging for me, to provide a strong mandate against this injustice and disrespect on October 23rd,” he wrote.The letter shook up the ruling party’s ranks in Gorakhpur, putting more pressure on Adityanath to deliver the seat.Singh followed his public appeal with a formal complaint targeting constituency observer and IAS officer Abhay Singh, challenging his appointment over past corruption allegations and questioning the integrity of the election process. Without citing specific grounds, the Election Commission abruptly removed Abhay Singh as observer, appointing officer Prakash Bindu on October 26, just one day prior to counting.On counting day, both Sanjayan Tripathi and Rajiv Yadav boycotted the process midway, alleging that officials were actively manipulating the process to force a win for the BJP candidate.‘Conspiracy’: Trends in counting changed ‘suddenly’Rajiv Yadav claimed he was the target of an outright “conspiracy” to steal the Gorakhpur-Faizabad election through systematic fraud. “970 votes were stolen,” Yadav asserted. He stated that he led by 376 votes after three rounds when 42,000 votes had been tallied. Yet, with only 1,612 votes remaining, the BJP candidate secured 970 of them in a completely “one-sided” rush – despite the fact that in MLC Teachers’ elections, ballot boxes from all 17 districts are completely mixed together. “Initial trends tend to persist until the end; there isn’t much variation,” Yadav argued.Yadav also alleged that paper ballots were physically tampered with, demanding an immediate recount and a forensic audit of those 970 votes. If examined, he claimed, it would be found that the preference number ‘1’ marked for him had been altered to a ‘4’, while the blank preference space beside Dhruv Tripathi’s name was fraudulently marked ‘1’.Yadav declared he would petition the Election Commission and file a court case seeking a forensic review of the final 1,612 ballots counted. “The administration is completely complicit,” he told reporters.Samajwadi Party candidate Sanjayan Tripathi made similar charges, stating that counting proceeded normally through three rounds. However, once the final 1,600 ballots were divided across four tables in batches of 400, votes suddenly began leaning overwhelmingly toward the BJP candidate.“The person leading [Yadav] got a mere 13 votes in a booth. I got 22-23 votes in a booth. The entire trend shifted suddenly, and it felt as though everything had been manipulated or pre-arranged. After every round of counting they were merely making the announcement but not providing us it in written form,” Sanjayan stated.Chief Electoral Officer of Uttar Pradesh Navdeep Rinwa took note of the boycott reported on X by contesting candidates and demanded an official explanation from the Gorakhpur-Faizabad returning officer. The Gorakhpur Divisional Commissioner responded that counting was monitored continuously under the personal supervision of the ECI-appointed observer.The commissioner added that candidate agents closely scrutinised every stage of counting and that round-wise results were publicly announced in the direct presence of candidate representatives.Strategy in AgraIn the Agra Teachers’ constituency, the Samajwadi Party’s strategy to field sitting independent MLC Akash Agarwal instead of previously announced candidate Prakash Chandra Gupta paid off. Despite intense allegations of booth capturing, voter intimidation and official orders for re-polling on three booths, Agarwal secured victory, delivering a crucial region containing Agra and Mathura to the Samajwadi Party.Also read: ‘Takkar Marna’ in UP Voter List: SP Flags Errors, BJP Alleges Duplicates On Eve of MLC PollsViral videos showing an emotional Agarwal in tears over alleged harassment on voting day were seized upon by Akhilesh Yadav, who framed the issue around the pride and dignity of the Agarwal business community. The ‘A’ in ‘PDA’ (Pichda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) now also stood for Agarwal, said the Samajwadi Party chief.On October 24, the ECI declared voting void at three polling stations in the constituency and ordered fresh polling following Samajwadi Party complaints of widespread booth capturing. After an inquiry, the ECI ordered the immediate suspension of six officials for administrative lapses, including poor supervision and failure to maintain security in and around polling booths on October 23.The election body also mandated disciplinary proceedings against polling team members and police officers (five head constables and 11 constables) deployed at those locations.Varanasi a big loss for BJP, Allahabad smooth sailing for BJPThe Samajwadi Party successfully defended the Varanasi Teachers’ Constituency, where senior leader and sitting MLC Lal Bihari Yadav claimed victory. Meanwhile, counting for the second Varanasi seat –the Graduates’ constituency – unfolded amidst intense drama, culminating in a full recount after the BJP alleged fraud and counting irregularities.Final results were delayed until October 29 as BJP workers staged a sit-in dharna demanding a recount. Ultimately, sitting Samajwadi Party MLC Ashutosh Sinha held on to the win, securing over 55,000 votes according to the Uttar Pradesh CEO.The Samajwadi Party’s Man Singh Yadav comfortably retained the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ Constituency, while the party wrested the Lucknow Graduates’ seat away from the BJP. Samajwadi Party candidate Kanti Singh Patel, wife of a sitting Samajwadi Party MP from the Kurmi backward-class community, defeated the BJP’s Avnish Kumar Singh.Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav posted on X that these MLC results clearly signalled the beginning of the end for the ruling BJP. “Despite blatant dishonesty and administrative manipulation, nothing could prevent the BJP’s disastrous performance. Once the PDA government comes to power, all those corrupt officials who acted as lackeys for the BJP will be held accountable before the court of the people,” he said.In a subsequent post following the final declarations, Yadav termed the outcome a “double loss of the double engines,” emphasising that the BJP’s defeat in these council elections set the tone for the upcoming Assembly battle.Also read: ‘Vikas Yadav’ Listed 13 Times: 9 UP Officials Face Action Over Voter List Irregularities in Azamgarh“The BJP folks lost in Varanasi in the first ‘counting’, then lost again in the ‘re-counting’, meaning the votes were counted twice and both times the BJP and their allies lost. On the one hand, this is a defeat of the BJP’s anti-teacher, student and education policies, and on the other hand, the educated unemployed graduates have also delivered their verdict,” Yadav wrote.BJP retains Meerut strongholdBJP candidate Dinesh Kumar Goel retained the Meerut Graduates’ Constituency, while Shrichand Sharma held the Meerut Teachers’ seat. The BJP’s Hari Om Dhillon successfully defended the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ seat, Umesh Dwivedi retained Lucknow Teachers, and senior leader Manvendra Pratap Singh kept the Agra Graduates’ constituency in BJP hands.The BJP conceded that the result fell below expectations. Senior party leaders said the performance would be reviewed.Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya noted that while the party matched its previous tally of six seats out of 11, it had anticipated more seats. “The Samajwadi Party managed to make a breakthrough where it shouldn’t have. We will reflect on this and strive to ensure that the BJP wins again,” Maurya remarked.Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak promised a detailed internal review of the lost seats, while expressing confidence that the BJP would return to power in 2027 with a massive majority.Divisional Commissioner Bhanu Chandra Goswami along with officials count postal ballots for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council Graduates’ and Teachers’ constituency elections, in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, October 27, 2026. Photo: PTI.Senior BJP minister Suresh Khanna cautioned the Samajwadi Party against excessive celebration, arguing that the outcome reflected individual candidate popularity rather than endorsement of Samajwadi Party policies. “In this, the personality of the candidate is more important. Those who worked hard and got more eligible votes made, they have won. But Samajwadi Party shouldn’t consider this as its win,” Khanna said.Chief Minister Adityanath – who had campaigned for these elections around his administration’s commitment to teachers and intellectual classes – congratulated the victors on X while noticeably avoiding political commentary.“I am confident that you all will give a strong voice to the aspirations of all teachers and graduates, contribute significantly to the protection of their interests, the enhancement of education and the progress of the state,” he wrote.The results in the 11 seats serve as a warning sign for Adityanath and the BJP, while offering the Akhilesh Yadav a promising momentum. Samajwadi Party cadres displayed an aggressive stance at every stage, from scrutinising voter lists to guarding ballot boxes on voting and counting days to shooting off complaints to the Election Commission.The rapid mobilisation leaders in Varanasi during the tense recount on October 28 highlights a renewed energy and preparedness that the Samajwadi Party desperately needs if it hopes to mount a credible challenge for power next year.Official results on the 5 graduates’ constituenciesMeerut Graduates’ Constituency – Dinesh Kumar Goyal (Bharatiya Janata Party) won by securing a total of 24,929 votes. His closest rival, Pramendra Singh Bhati, Adv. (Samajwadi Party), secured 12,073 votes.Agra Graduates’ Constituency – Dr. Manvendra Pratap Singh, ‘Guru Ji’ (Bharatiya Janata Party), won by securing a total of 42,743 votes. His closest rival, Shashank Yadav alias ‘Sheetu’ (Samajwadi Party), secured 27,734 votes before being eliminated from the contest.Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ Constituency – Dr. Man Singh Yadav (Samajwadi Party) won by securing a total of 60,358 votes. His closest rival, Ashok Kumar Rathore (Bharatiya Janata Party), secured 32,695 votes.Lucknow Graduates’ Constituency – Kanti Singh (Samajwadi Party) won by securing a total of 56,905 votes. Her closest rival, Er. Avnish Kumar Singh (Bharatiya Janata Party), secured 39,778 votes.Varanasi Graduates’ Constituency – Ashutosh Sinha (Samajwadi Party) won by securing a total of 55,046 votes. His closest rival was Kedarnath Singh (Bharatiya Janata Party), who secured 35,114 votes before being eliminated from the contest.Results on the 6 teachers’ constituencies:Lucknow Teachers’ Constituency – Umesh Dwivedi (Bharatiya Janata Party) won by securing a total of 13,179 votes. His closest rival was Sushil Kumar (Samajwadi Party), who secured 8,371 votes before being eliminated from the contest.Varanasi Teachers’ Constituency – Lal Bihari Yadav (Samajwadi Party) won by securing a total of 11,612 votes. His closest rival was Dr. Pramod Kumar Mishra (Bharatiya Janata Party), who secured 6,597 votes.Agra Teachers’ Constituency – Dr. Akash Agarwal (Samajwadi Party) won by securing a total of 14,046 votes. His closest rival was Hari Kishore Tiwari (Bharatiya Janata Party), who secured 9,783 votes before being eliminated from the contest.Meerut Teachers’ Constituency – Shrichand Sharma (Bharatiya Janata Party) won by securing a total of 18,099 votes. His closest rival was Dr. Nitin Tomar (Samajwadi Party), who secured 4,858 votes.Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ Constituency – Dr. Hari Singh Dhillon (Bharatiya Janata Party) won by securing a total of 21,672 votes. His closest rival was Haji Danish Akhtar (Samajwadi Party), who secured 3,996 votes.Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ Constituency – Dhruv Kumar Tripathi (Bharatiya Janata Party) won by securing a total of 16,790 votes. His closest rival was Rajiv Yadav (independent), who secured 14,580 votes before exiting the contest.