Two BJP candidates win in MLC bypolls in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: The ruling BJP comfortably won the MLC bypoll held on Monday with both its candidates winning over Samajwadi Party candidates. BJP’s Manvendra Singh got 280 votes while his rival Samajwadi Party’s Ram Jatan Rajbhar got 115 votes, Returning Officer Mohammad Mushid told PTI.

Another BJP candidate Padmasen Chowdhary got 279 votes in the bypoll, while Samajwadi Party’s Ramkaran got 116 votes. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has congratulated both the winners. As many as 396 MLAs voted on Monday in the bypolls to two vacant seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, for which both the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party have fielded candidates.

According to UP Assembly sources, seven MLAs, including two from the Congress, did not vote in the bypolls. In the by-election held on Monday, 396 MLAs cast their votes. The seven MLAs who did not vote include three jailed MLAs – Abbas Ansari (Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party), Irfan Solanki and Ramakant Yadav (both MLAs). Samajwadi Party) Apart from this, two Congress MLAs, one BSP and one SP MLA (Manoj Paras) abstained from voting.

Earlier, the voting for the by-elections on the two vacant seats of the Legislative Council started here at 9 am and continued till 4 pm. UP Congress chief Brijlal Khabri told PTI, “It was decided by the party not to vote for any candidate in the MLC bypoll, and hence the two MLAs did not vote.”

The Congress has two MLAs, Aradhana Mishra and Virendra Chowdhary. Uma Shankar Singh, the lone BSP MLA who did not vote, said, “I could not reach the polling booth to cast my vote in the bypoll.”

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Finance Minister Suresh Khanna were among those who voted in the morning, an official at the Assembly Secretariat said. By-elections on these two seats had become necessary after the resignation of Laxman Acharya and death of Banwari Lal Dohra. The tenure of Acharya, who was appointed as the Governor of Sikkim, was to end in January 2027, while Dohre’s tenure was to end in July 2028.

The notification for the bypoll was issued on May 11 with May 18 being the last day for filing nominations. Only members of the Legislative Assembly are eligible to vote in the Legislative Council elections. The BJP has 255 MLAs in the 403-member assembly, while allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) have 13 and Nishad Party six. Samajwadi Party has 109 MLAs and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal has nine MLAs. Suheldev has six MLAs from the Bharatiya Samaj Party, two each from the Congress and the Jansatta Dal (Democratic) and one from the Bahujan Samaj Party.