UP Legislative Council Counting: BJP vs SP Battle Watched

Counting of ballots has started for 11 Legislative Council seats in Uttar Pradesh, with graduate and teacher constituencies in focus. The count began at 8 am on Tuesday, and attention is firmly on the direct contest between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party.

The results are seen as politically important for both parties ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. Voting was held across five graduate and six teacher constituencies, involving 14,81,310 voters. The count is taking place in Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Jhansi, Bareilly and Gorakhpur, under the watch of Returning Officers and observers.

Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa has asked returning officers to ensure a neutral, peaceful and open counting process. Heavy security, restricted entry for unauthorised people, trained personnel, CCTV, videography and uninterrupted electricity are part of the arrangements.

Since the council elections follow the single transferable vote system with proportional representation, officials have indicated that counting may take more time.

Lucknow's graduate seat features a contest between BJP's Awanish Kumar Singh and SP's Kanti Singh, and the seat carries political importance for both sides. Akhilesh Yadav campaigned for Kanti Singh. Her husband, Dr. SP Singh, had earlier represented the seat in the council.

In Gorakhpur-Faizabad, BJP's Dhruv Tripathi faces SP's Dr. Sanjayan Tripathi. The SP candidate had previously been linked to the BJP before the party fielded him. In Meerut, BJP's Dinesh Goyal and SP's Premendra Bhati are in contention, a seat with notable significance in western Uttar Pradesh.

Counting halls have been set up in each city. In Lucknow, the graduate seat is counted at Hall No. 7 of Ramabai Rally Ground and the teacher seat at Hall No. 8. Varanasi's graduate and teacher seats are counted at Halls No. 1 and 2 of the State Warehouse Corporation. Agra's counting is at Halls No. 1 and 2 of the Naveen Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti, Tundla Road. In Meerut, Hall B (graduate) and Hall A (teacher) are used in the Gandhi Hall building of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Modipuram. Jhansi's Allahabad-Jhansi graduate seat is counted in Hall No. 1 of Kothari Hall at Bundelkhand Degree College. Bareilly-Moradabad teacher seat counting is at Sanjay Community Hall, and Gorakhpur-Faizabad teacher seat counting takes place in Halls No. 1 and 2 of the Commerce Building at Gorakhpur University.