UP MLC Elections : Voting for 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats is scheduled for October 23, with campaigning set to end this evening. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have stepped up their efforts ahead of the polls. Taking place before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, these contests are considered significant for both parties. The seats cover graduate and teacher constituencies, and both parties are working to mobilise supporters and reach eligible voters.

Candidates Face Off in Graduate Constituencies
Several graduate constituencies feature direct contests between BJP and SP candidates. In Lucknow, BJP's Avanish Kumar Singh is facing SP's Kanti Singh. In Agra, BJP candidate Dr Manvendra Pratap Singh is contesting against Akash Agrawal of the SP. The Meerut-Saharanpur seat features Dinesh Goyal of the BJP against Pramendra Bhati of the SP. In Varanasi-Mirzapur, BJP candidate Kedarnath Singh is facing Ashutosh Sinha of the SP. Meanwhile, Ashok Kumar Rathore of the BJP and Dr Man Singh Yadav of the SP are contesting the Allahabad-Jhansi seat. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has also appealed to voters to support Kanti Singh.

Close Contests in Teacher Constituencies
The teacher constituencies are also witnessing competition between candidates from the two parties. In Lucknow, BJP's Umesh Dwivedi is facing SP candidate Sushil Kumar Patel. In Meerut-Ghaziabad, BJP candidate Shrichand Sharma is contesting against Nitin Kumar Tomar of the SP. The Bareilly-Moradabad seat features BJP's Dr Harisingh Dhillon against Haji Mohammad Danish Akhtar of the SP. In Varanasi, BJP candidate Dr Pramod Mishra is facing Lal Bihari Yadav of the SP. In Agra-Aligarh, Hari Kishore Tiwari of the BJP is contesting against Dr Prakash Chandra Gupta of the SP. In Gorakhpur-Faizabad, BJP's Dhruv Tripathi is facing SP candidate Dr Sanjay Tripathi.

Rebel Candidates Pose a Challenge for BJP
Rebel candidates have also become a talking point in these elections. According to the report, Dr Sanjay Tripathi left the BJP and joined the SP after failing to secure a BJP ticket for the Gorakhpur-Faizabad seat. Such candidates could influence local electoral equations, although their actual impact will become clear only after the results. Discontent among some leaders over ticket distribution is also being viewed as a challenge for the BJP. Recently, Faizabad MLC Devendra Pratap Singh issued a letter appealing to voters to respond to what he described as his humiliation.

An Important Test Before the Assembly Polls
The results of these 11 Legislative Council seats could offer some insight into the organisational strength and support base of political parties ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. Both the BJP and the SP are seeking victories for their candidates, but the outcome should not be treated as a direct prediction of the Assembly election results. Graduate and teacher constituencies have a different electorate from general Assembly constituencies. Local candidate support, organisational activity and voter outreach could therefore play an important role in determining the results.