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MLC poll results: The outcome marks a significant political jolt for Rahul Gandhi’s Congress, particularly in Karnataka where it is in power with DK Shivakumar as CM
Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar. (PTI File)
The Indian National Congress failed to win a single seat in the biennial Legislative Council (MLC) elections across four states — Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Maharashtra — drawing a complete blank across all 28 seats contested.
The outcome marks a significant political jolt for the party, particularly in Karnataka where it currently holds power.
THE BREAKDOWN IN KARNATAKA: BJP-JD(S) 4, Congress 0
In Karnataka, the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)] secured a decisive 4-0 clean sweep:
Bengaluru Teachers’ Constituency: In the sharpest blow to the ruling party, JD(S) candidate AP Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna by a margin of 908 votes. Ranganath secured 10,810 votes against Puttanna’s 9,902.
North-East Teachers’ Constituency: Incumbent BJP MLC Shashil G Namoshi defeated Congress’s Sharanappa Mattur by 3,297 votes. This marked Namoshi’s fifth victory in a segment covering Kalaburagi, the home turf of AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge.
South-East Graduates’ Constituency: BJP candidate K M Suresh won decisively over Congress nominee Shashi Hulikunte Mutt with a broad margin of 23,098 votes.
At A Glance
The Indian National Congress failed to win a single seat across all 28 contested MLC seats in Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Maharashtra.
In Karnataka, the NDA alliance secured a 4-0 clean sweep against the ruling Congress party.
Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party won its debut seat in Bihar’s Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency by defeating the sitting Congress MLC.
The BJP and its allies secured 6 or more seats in Uttar Pradesh and won all 5 seats in Maharashtra.
West Graduates’ Constituency: Sitting BJP MLC S V Sankanur retained his seat, defeating Congress candidate Mohan Limbikai by 9,323 votes.
What it means
The loss is particularly notable because these constituencies represent educated professionals and teachers, raising questions about the ruling state government’s influence among organized professional voter groups.
The voting was conducted using paper ballots rather than Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs), prompting immediate political retorts from the opposition BJP regarding the party’s historic stance on voting systems. The outcome marks a strategic boost for the BJP-JD(S) alliance ahead of assembly cycles, demonstrating tight coordination between the coalition partners against the ruling Congress administration.
WHAT HAPPENED IN OTHER 3 STATES?
Bihar (8 Seats)
The NDA dominated the elections for four Graduates’ and four Teachers’ constituencies, while the Congress drew a blank. A historic breakthrough was achieved by Prashant Kishor’s party.
BJP (4 seats): Retained the Kosi Graduates’ (N.K. Yadav) and Darbhanga Graduates’ (Sarvesh Kumar) seats. Narendra Prasad Singh won the Tirhut Teachers’ seat.
JD(U) (1 seat): Neeraj Kumar successfully retained the Patna Graduates’ seat for a fourth term.
Jan Suraaj Party (1 seat): Opened its maiden account in the Legislative Council as Suresh Prasad Rai defeated veteran Congress leader Madan Mohan Jha in the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency.
RJD (1 seat): Sanjeev Kumar Yadav pulled off a major upset by defeating sitting BJP veteran Nawal Kishore Yadav in the Patna Teachers’ constituency.
Independents (2 seats): Rahul Raj won the Saran Teachers’ seat, and Bansi Dhar Brajwasi retained the Tirhut Graduates’ constituency.
Uttar Pradesh (11 Seats)
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — 6 Seats
The ruling BJP secured a majority of the seats, leaning heavily on strong performances in Western Uttar Pradesh and retaining key urban teachers’ divisions.
Graduates’ Constituencies (2)
Meerut Graduates: Dinesh Kumar Goyal retained his seat.
Agra Graduates: Dr. Manvendra Pratap Singh emerged victorious.
Teachers’ Constituencies (4)
Lucknow Teachers: Umesh Dwivedi successfully retained the seat, polling 13,179 votes.
Meerut Teachers: Shrichand Sharma won the election.
Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers: Dr. Hari Singh Dhillon retained the seat by defeating the SP candidate with 21,672 votes.
Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers: Dhruv Kumar Tripathi held onto the seat in the Chief Minister’s home turf following a tight preference-vote count.
Samajwadi Party (SP) — 5 Seats
The main opposition party recorded notable breakthroughs, wresting high-profile seats from the BJP, particularly in the Prime Minister’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.
Graduates’ Constituencies (3)
Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates: Dr. Man Singh Yadav retained this constituency for the SP by polling 60,358 votes.
Lucknow Graduates: Kanti Singh pulled off an upset by defeating the BJP incumbent by a margin of 17,127 votes.
Varanasi Graduates: Ashutosh Sinha secured the seat to complete the party’s strong showing in the region.
Teachers’ Constituencies (2)
Varanasi Teachers: Lal Bihari Yadav comfortably defeated the BJP challenger to retain the seat.
Agra Teachers: Dr. Akash Agarwal won the seat, successfully making the transition after previously holding it as an independent candidate.
Maharashtra (5 Seats)
Mahayuti Alliance — 3 Seats
The ruling combine swept the Teachers’ constituencies and managed to capture one high-stakes Graduates’ seat.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — 2 Seats
Pune Teachers’ Constituency: Kaustubh Gawade won the seat, defeating the incumbent Congress representative.
Nagpur Graduates’ Constituency: Sudhakar Kohale won a narrow victory after intense elimination rounds of preference counting, edgeing out the sitting Congress MLC.
Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) — 1 Seat
Amravati Teachers’ Constituency: Kiran Ramrao Sarnaik successfully crossed the required vote quota to secure this multi-cornered contest, defeating Congress challenger Aditi Pohre.
Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — 2 Seats
The opposition alliance made its impact felt strictly through the Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar faction), which registered crucial wins in the Graduates’ segments, while the Congress drew a complete blank.
Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) — 2 Seats
Pune Graduates’ Constituency: Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav comfortably defeated the BJP nominee, Dr. Smita Jadhav, by a margin of 9,700 votes.
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates’ Constituency: Dr. Pratapsinh Patil secured a notable win by defeating the incumbent MLC Satish Chavan from the rival Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction.
With agency inputs
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