BJP-led NDA wins big in 4-state MLC polls, Congress loses face, SP stuns in Varanasi

The BJP-led NDA has scored big in the MLC elections across four states. It swept all four seats in Karnataka and maintained its advantage in UP, even as the Samajwadi Party notched up key wins like Varanasi. In Bihar, the NDA won four of the eight seats, improving its tally from three. In Maharashtra, the BJP-led Mahayuti is ahead in three of the five seats.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) has emerged as the dominant force in the Legislative Council elections across four states. The NDA swept all four seats in Karnataka and maintained a strong lead in Uttar Pradesh, even as the Samajwadi Party (SP) scored notable victories. In Bihar, the NDA, despite facing major challenges, improved its tally from three seats to four.

In Maharashtra, where the ruling Mahayuti alliance also faced challenges from rebel candidates and internal differences, it is leading in three of the five seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi was ahead in two constituencies even as counting continued on Wednesday.

The declared and emerging results give the NDA a boost ahead of crucial Assembly battles in seven states -- UP, Gujarat, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa, Manipur and Himachal Pradesh. The results also expose the Congress's organisational weaknesses in key pockets, including Karnataka, the party ruled by the party.

For the Congress, the significant setback came from Karnataka. Being in power, the party failed to win any of the four seats it contested. The BJP retained three constituencies, while its ally, the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S), wrested the Bengaluru Teachers' seat from the Congress.

The MLC poll results also come at a politically sensitive moment for the BJP-led government at the Centre. According to experts, the ruling party is facing its toughest times after more than a decade in power. The opposition protests over the Election Commission of India's (ECI) revision of electoral rolls, demands for Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar's resignation and allegations of institutional bias have been a key setback for the government.

Against this backdrop, the MLC results offer the BJP and its allies an opportunity to highlight that their political machinery still remains competitive on the ground.

But the verdict needs to be read with caution. The MLC elections that were held on October 23 are not like Assembly polls, and the electorate is restricted to specific groups of voters rather than the entire population. But, the results reveal the relative strength of parties among registered teachers and graduates in the four states. It also offers clues about the organisation, alliances and local influence of the contesting parties.

KARNATAKA: THE RULING CONGRESS LOSES ALL FOUR SEATS

Karnataka has produced the clearest result for the NDA and the biggest setback for the Congress. The BJP won three seats, while the JD(S) secured the fourth, delivering a clean sweep for the alliance.

The most politically significant result was the Bengaluru Teachers' constituency, where JD(S) candidate AP Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna. The seat was held by the Congress' Puttanna, a long-time politician who switched from the JD(S) to the BJP. He subsequently joined the Congress ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections. He had won the Council seat for the Congress in a 2024 by-election.

The BJP retained the North-East Teachers' constituency, won the South-East Graduates' and West Graduates' constituencies. The results demonstrated the NDA alliance's ability to coordinate its campaign across the four seats, including the constituency where the JD(S) was the principal beneficiary.

For Karnataka CM DK Shivakumar's government, the outcome is an uncomfortable political signal. It gives the BJP and JD(S) an opportunity to embolden its alliance with the state preparing for its Assembly polls in less than two years.

The timing has added to the significance. The Karnataka contest was watched as a test of coordination between the BJP and JD(S), which have sought to consolidate their partnership after earlier setbacks and questions about vote transfer between the two parties.

BJP RETAINS EDGE IN UP MLC POLLS, SP MAKES GAINS AHEAD OF 2027 ELECTIONS

The 11 MLC seats that went to polls in Uttar Pradesh give a mixed picture. The BJP retained its overall advantage in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, winning six of the 11 Legislative Council seats by Wednesday evening. However, the Samajwadi Party secured four victories and was poised to win the remaining Varanasi Graduates' seat. The results suggested a closer contest between the two parties ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections.

The BJP's victories include Lucknow Teachers, Meerut-Saharanpur Teachers, Meerut-Saharanpur Graduates, Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers and Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers. The SP won Lucknow Graduates, Varanasi Teachers, Agra Teachers and Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates. Counting was continuing in Varanasi Graduates, where the SP's Ashutosh Sinha is leading ahead of the BJP's Kedar Nath Singh.

The SP's performance in Varanasi carries particular symbolic value. It retained the Varanasi Teachers' seat, where Lal Bihari Yadav defeated BJP's Pramod Kumar Mishra. The constituency falls in the region represented in the Lok Sabha by PM Narendra Modi, making the result a political boost for the SP. However, the verdict cannot be seen as a rejection of the BJP by Varanasi's entire electorate.

The SP's victories in Agra Teachers and Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates also underline its ability to challenge the BJP in selected constituencies. With the 2027 Assembly elections approaching, these wins offer Akhilesh Yadav's party an opportunity to demonstrate its influence among graduates and teachers.

In the 2020 MLC elections, the BJP won six of the 11 seats, the SP three and Independents two. If the remaining Varanasi Graduates' result goes in the SP's favour, the BJP will retain its tally of six, while the SP will improve from three to five. The results suggest that the BJP remains ahead, but the SP has strengthened its position in these constituencies.

NDA WINS HALF OF BIHAR MLC SEATS, JAN SURAAJ OPENS ACCOUNT

Bihar delivered a fragmented verdict in the Legislative Council elections, with the NDA winning four of the eight seats, improving its tally from three. The BJP won three seats and its ally JD(U) one, while the RJD and Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party secured one each. Independent candidates won the remaining two seats, leaving the Congress without a victory.

The RJD's Sanjeev Kumar Singh defeated BJP veteran Nawal Kishore Yadav in the Patna Teachers' constituency, ending his three-decade hold on the seat. In Tirhut Teachers', the BJP defeated the sitting CPI MLC, while Jan Suraaj's Suresh Prasad Rai defeated former Bihar Congress president Madan Mohan Jha in Darbhanga Teachers'. In Saran Teachers', BJP rebel Rahul Raj won as an Independent.

Among the graduates' constituencies, the JD(U)'s Neeraj Kumar retained the Patna Graduates despite opposition from Mokama MLA and strongman Anant Singh. The BJP won Darbhanga Graduates and Kosi Graduates, while Independent Vanshidhar Brajwasi secured Tirhut Graduates.

The victory of Prashant Kishor's Jan Suraaj is significant. It marked the party's first Legislative Council victory. The win, months after Prashant Kishor's Bankipur Assembly win, came at the expense of the Congress, which lost a seat held by one of its former state presidents.

The RJD's victory in Patna Teachers' was another major development. The RJD candidate defeated BJP veteran Nawal Kishore Yadav, who had held the seat since 1996. However, the NDA's improved tally demonstrates its continued strength.

MAHAYUTI GAINS GROUND, CONGRESS LOSES GRIP IN MAHARASHTRA

Maharashtra's five MLC seats have also tested the cohesion of the ruling Mahayuti alliance, which is a regional alliance of the BJP-led NDA. Before the polls, it had faced challenges over seat-sharing, candidate selection and support for rebel candidates.

The BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar-led NCP agreed on a 3:1:1 seat-sharing formula, but the arrangement failed to prevent friction among the allies. As counting continued on Wednesday evening, the Mahayuti had won two seats and was leading in another, while the opposition MVA was ahead in two.

The rift was particularly visible in Pune Teachers', where the BJP fielded Kaustubh Gawde while the Shinde-led Shiv Sena backed independent candidate Sachin Sanap. In Nagpur, former BJP MLA Anil Sole rebelled against the party's nominee before withdrawing following intervention by senior leaders. In Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Shiv Sena leader Abdul Sattar reportedly backed the opposition NCP (SP) candidate against the official Mahayuti nominee, further highlighting differences within the alliance.

The counting trends offeres a mixed picture for the alliance. The BJP's Kaustubh Gawde won Pune Teachers', while Shiv Sena's Kiran Sarnaik secured Amravati Teachers'. The BJP's Sudhakar Kohale is ahead of the sitting Congress MLC Abhijeet Wanjari in Nagpur Graduates'. The NCP (SP), meanwhile, is leading in both Pune and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar Graduates' constituencies. With preferential vote counting still underway in some seats, the final tally was yet to be settled.

The contest in Maharashtra has therefore tested both alliance coordination and the opposition's ability to capitalise on internal differences. The MVA (an alliance of Congress, Shiv Sena-UBT and NCP-SP) has also faced disagreements over seat-sharing and candidate selection. The Congress faced setbacks in two constituencies it won in 2020, with its sitting Pune Teachers' MLC Jayant Asgaonkar eliminated during counting and Abhijeet Wanjari trailing in Nagpur Graduates'.

The stakes in Maharashtra have been largely shaped by the state's changing alliances.

In the 2020 elections, the then-undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) won the Pune and Aurangabad, now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, graduates' seats. The Congress won the Nagpur Graduates' and Pune Teachers' seats, while an independent candidate won Amravati Teachers'. The BJP failed to win any of these five seats.

The 2020 results came before the political upheavals that Maharashtra witnessed. The Shiv Sena split in 2022, followed by the NCP split in 2023, reshaped the alignments in the state. The present Mahayuti government comprises the BJP, Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Sunetra Pawar-led NCP, while the MVA brings together the opposition factions of the Shiv Sena and NCP-SP alongside the Congress.

WHAT MLC ELECTION RESULTS MEAN FOR BJP AND OPPOSITION

Taken together, the results give the BJP-led NDA a political advantage, but not an unqualified mandate across all four states. Karnataka has delivered a complete sweep for the alliance, there are chances of domination in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh has produced a BJP lead alongside meaningful SP gains and Bihar has exposed vulnerabilities among established parties.

For the BJP, the timing is valuable. The party and the Union government are facing sustained scrutiny over the ECI and the revision of electoral rolls, with opposition parties and civil society groups taking their campaign from Parliament and party offices to the streets. These protests have challenged the government's handling of electoral institutions and placed questions about democratic accountability in the national political debate.

The MLC results give the BJP an opportunity to counter that narrative with an electoral one.

The NDA's victories suggest that the party retains the ability to mobilise voters and work through established political networks, even as it faces criticism over the functioning of institutions.

The Karnataka sweep is particularly useful to the NDA because it demonstrates coordination between the BJP and JD(S), with Assembly polls expected to take place in less than two years.