‘Double-defeat of double-engine government,’ says Akhilesh on BJP’s MLC polls performance

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav. File | Photo Credit: ANI Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday (October 29, 2026) described the BJP's performance in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections as a "double defeat" and said the results had laid the groundwork for his party's victory in the 2027 Assembly polls.In a post on X, Mr. Yadav said the BJP lost the Varanasi Graduates' Constituency in the initial counting and the recounting, calling it a "double defeat of the double engine government".The BJP won six and the Samajwadi Party won five out of the 11 seats in the biennial elections, seen as a popularity test for parties ahead of the crucial Assembly elections due early next year.Mr. Yadav said the BJP's defeat "was the defeat of its policies concerning teachers, students and education" and "the educated unemployed graduates had also delivered their verdict" against the party.He said the way the BJP caused distress, suffering and humiliation across social groups had brought together all those who felt aggrieved.Mr. Yadav said the PDA (Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) social coalition's support base has now expanded to 95% because "those who are aggrieved are the PDA."The Samajwadi Party chief alleged irregularities in the seats won by the BJP.He claimed that the results have triggered an existential crisis within the BJP as everyone knows that it won through tampering, and the party's internal rifts have further intensified tension between the two engines of the government.Taking a swipe at the BJP over candidate selection for the 2027 Assembly elections, Mr. Yadav said the party, which had earlier been conducting surveys to identify candidates, was now searching for them "with binoculars"."The BJP's ticket window is empty," he said.Thanking teachers and young voters for supporting the Samajwadi Party candidates, Mr. Yadav said they had also helped monitor the counting process alongside his party's "PDA sentinels" and remained present until the election certificates were issued.He congratulated the winning candidates and also "those who had been defeated through manipulation and fraud"."None of our candidates has actually lost; they just could not win in the face of the BJP's manipulation," he claimed, adding that the party considered them winners even without certificates.Mr. Yadav said the alertness and unity demonstrated by voters in the MLC elections would lay the "decisive foundation" for forming a Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh in 2027. Published - October 29, 2026 06:58 pm IST