The BJP-JD(S) alliance swept all four Karnataka Legislative Council seats, with the BJP winning three and its ally JD(S) one, leaving the ruling Congress without a seat in the Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituency elections.
JD(S) candidate AP Ranganath defeated sitting MLC Puttanna in the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency, which recorded 81.98% turnout. NDA candidate Shashil G Namoshi defeated Congress candidate Sharanappa Mattur in the North-East Teachers’ constituency, while the BJP retained the South-East Graduates’ and West Graduates’ seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP had won four of the 11 seats and the Samajwadi Party two as counting continued in the remaining constituencies. BJP candidates Hari Singh Dhillon, Dinesh Kumar Goyal and Shri Chand Sharma won the Bareilly-Moradabad, Meerut Teachers’ and Meerut Graduates’ seats respectively, while the party also retained the Lucknow Teachers’ seat. SP’s Lal Bihari Yadav and Akash Agrawal won the Varanasi Teachers’ and Agra-Aligarh Teachers’ seats.
Bihar’s Jan Suraaj Party opened its account after Suresh Prasad Rai defeated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha by 324 votes in Darbhanga Teachers. The BJP won Tirhut Teachers and Kosi Graduates, while JD(U)’s Neeraj Kumar defeated the RJD candidate in Patna Graduates, though the official declaration was awaited. RJD candidate Sanjiv Kumar defeated five-term BJP MLC Nawal Kishor Yadav in Patna Teachers, and independent Rahul Raj defeated sitting MLC Afaq Ahmed in Saran Teachers.
In Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti and the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi contested all five seats, with 182 candidates in the fray. In the 78-member Council, the BJP has 35 MLCs, Shiv Sena 12, NCP 10, Congress and Shiv Sena (UBT) five each, and NCP (SP) two.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on X that the polls covered 28 seats across Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka and were held using ballot papers, asking how many seats Congress had won. Former Karnataka chief minister B S Yediyurappa claimed the Karnataka result rejected Congress’s “Vote Chori” campaign, while Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw cited the ballot-paper result to criticise the Opposition’s questions over voting mechanisms. Results in the remaining constituencies will determine the final state-wise tally.
