Agra MLC Results: SP Takes Teacher Seat, BJP Keeps Graduates
Agra, October 28: Both the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party recorded wins in the Agra region's Legislative Council elections for teacher and graduate constituencies.
Samajwadi Party's Dr. Akash Agarwal was declared the winner of the Agra division teacher constituency, marking his second consecutive victory there.
The BJP's Dr. Manvendra Pratap Singh, known as Guruji, won the Agra division graduate constituency by defeating Samajwadi Party's Shashank Yadav.
The certificate of victory was given to Dr. Agarwal by Returning Officer Narendra Pratap on Wednesday. No official final vote numbers were made available by the administration at that time.
Agarwal did not have an opportunity to speak with the press after collecting the certificate. Police escorted him out of the counting site through the rear entrance, and a large group of supporters stayed on the spot.
Speaking after his win, Singh credited the efforts of party workers and the government's functioning for the BJP's result. He said the party received support from teachers, graduates, advocates and journalists.
Singh maintained that the BJP has worked to fulfil its pledges, highlighting employment initiatives, transparency in state recruitment exams, a medical college in each district and the One District, One Product plan. He claimed jobs had been provided in the state without bribery or recommendations.
He charged that a syndicate linked to Saifai and Rampur once dominated government job appointments. Under Yogi Adityanath's leadership, he said, the hiring process is now transparent and candidates are receiving appointment letters.
Deepak Kumar, Agra's police commissioner, said the counting was carried out as per Election Commission of India directions. The winner has been announced in one constituency, and final counting was still underway in the other.
He said the counting was concluded peacefully and that both victorious candidates have been given security protection.
Because Section 163 of the BNSS is in effect in the city, no victory procession will be allowed, the commissioner said. Candidates have received explicit instructions on this.
Asked about the night-time commotion during counting, Kumar said the incident happened inside the counting venue and no event took place outside. He added that police have not received any complaint on the matter yet.
He also expressed gratitude to police personnel, polling staff and journalists assigned to the counting duty. Kumar explained that counting paper ballots is a time-consuming task, and police had remained on duty continuously since 5 am.