Educated people's votes, not common public's: OP Rajbhar on BJP's Varanasi MLC loss

Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar on Thursday said the results of the Legislative Council elections reflected the mandate of educated voters rather than the general public, after the Samajwadi Party (SP) defeated the BJP in the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency. The BJP also lost the Lucknow Graduates’ seat to the SP, with the opposition party winning five of the 11 seats.“People have given their mandate. It is the mandate of educated people, and we welcome the mandate that has emerged. These are the votes of educated people, not the common public. During the Assembly elections, these same educated people will not turn up at polling booths. Then, the common voter will be seen at the booths,” Rajbhar said.The BJP won six of the 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats, while the SP secured five, including two in Varanasi. The results come ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, with the MLC polls widely seen as a prestige battle between the BJP and the SP.SP WON WHERE IT SHOULDN'T HAVE: KESHAV MAURYAUttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the SP had won in places where it should not have, while acknowledging that the BJP had expected to win more seats.“We were expecting to win even more seats, but we did not win that many. We will look into this. The SP won where it should not have. We will introspect. We will make efforts to ensure that the BJP wins once again in the forthcoming elections,” Maurya said in Lucknow on Tuesday.He added that the BJP had repeated its previous performance but would review the results and work to improve its performance in future elections.SP WINS VARANASI, LUCKNOW GRADUATES’ SEATSSP candidate Ashutosh Sinha won the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency with 55,046 votes, according to election officials. Earlier counting data showed Sinha leading BJP candidate Kedar Nath Singh by 50,462 votes to 33,478 after the ninth round of counting of first-preference votes.Kedar Nath Singh conceded defeat in a social media post, thanked voters for their support and said he accepted the mandate with humility and in accordance with democratic norms.“Although we could not achieve the expected success in this election, your affection, cooperation and trust will always remain invaluable to me,” he said in Hindi.The BJP candidate also thanked party and alliance leaders, workers and supporters. He said he would continue working for the interests and concerns of the graduates’ community, adding that his commitment to public service did not depend on an election result.In the Lucknow Graduates’ constituency, SP candidate Kanti Singh defeated BJP nominee Avneesh Kumar Singh. According to earlier counting data, Kanti Singh secured 51,168 votes against Avneesh Kumar Singh’s 36,313 after more than eight rounds of counting. A senior district official confirmed that Kanti Singh had won and received the certificate of election.Polling for the 11 Legislative Council seats took place on October 23, and counting began on Tuesday.By Wednesday, the BJP had won the Agra Graduates’ constituency, the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ constituency, the Lucknow Teachers’ constituency, the Meerut Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies, and the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency.The SP had won the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ constituency and the Varanasi and Agra-Aligarh Teachers’ constituencies. The results of the Varanasi and Lucknow Graduates’ constituencies subsequently took the SP’s tally to five.Before the elections, the BJP held six seats: Agra, Meerut-Saharanpur and Lucknow Graduates’, along with Bareilly-Moradabad, Lucknow and Meerut-Saharanpur Teachers’. The SP held three seats — Varanasi and Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ and Varanasi Teachers’. Independents held the remaining two seats, Agra and Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’.- Ends