Modi fires ‘ballot’ barb as Congress draws a blank in MLC polls | Political Pulse News
As the Congress drew a blank in the Legislative Council elections held in 28 seats across four states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took a swipe at the party for its debacle in the MLC polls despite the use of paper ballots – a key demand of the Opposition parties.
The Congress-led INDIA bloc has been campaigning against the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) in the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, demanding that all elections should be held using ballot papers.
The Congress failed to open its account even in the party-ruled Karnataka, where the BJP and its NDA ally JD(S) swept all the four graduates and teachers seats.
In Uttar Pradesh, of the 11 MLC seats, the BJP won five seats and the Samajwadi Party (SP) three, with the counting still underway in the remaining three constituencies.
“MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka. Elections held using ballot papers. Guess how many seats Congress won?” Modi said in a post on X.
MLC elections in 28 seats across 4 big states – Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Karnataka.
Elections held using ballot papers.
Guess how many seats Congress won? 🧐
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 28, 2026
The elections to the six teachers and five graduates constituencies in UP, four teachers and four graduates seats in Bihar, two teachers and two graduates seats in Karnataka, and three graduates and two teachers seats in Maharashtra were held on October 23.
The Congress suffered a blow in Karnataka, losing all the four seats with the JD(S) wresting one seat from the ruling party and the BJP retaining three seats.
The BJP registered victory in North East Teachers, South East Graduates and West Graduates constituencies, defeating the Congress candidates there. The JD(S) wrested the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency from the Congress.
While the outcome will not have an impact on the Congress’s majority in the 75-member Upper House, where the party has 38 MLCs, it has boosted the Opposition coalition, which is likely to step up its pressure on the D K Shivakumar-led government in the coming days.
The BJP and the JD(S) hailed the MLC poll results as a victory against the “Congress misrule” in the state.
Calling the NDA’s win “historic”, senior JD(S) leader and Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy said it also sent a message for the state Assembly elections due in 2028.
In Maharashtra, the ruling BJP-led Mahayuti was leading in three seats while the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP), a constituent of the Opposition MVA, was ahead in two seats.
In Bihar, the Prashant Kishor-led Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) registered its first win in the MLC polls, where the BJP, JD(U), RJD and an Independent also won one seat each, with the results yet to be declared for the remaining three seats.
The JSP’s Suresh Prasad Rai defeated sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha by 324 votes in the Darbhanga Teachers seat.
In the Patna Graduates constituency, the JD(U)’s Neeraj Kumar defeated the RJD candidate despite opposition from expelled JD(U) leader Anant Singh. In the Tirhut Teachers seat, the BJP’s Narendra Prasad Singh trounced his nearest rival, Independent nominee Bhushan Kumar Jha.
The BJP’s sitting MLC from Patna Teachers seat, Nawal Kishor Yadav, however, lost to the RJD’s Sanjiv Kumar. In the Saran Teachers seat, sitting Independent MLC Afaq Ahmed was defeated by independent candidate Rahul Raj.
In UP, where the high-stakes Assembly elections are just four months away, the SP’s Mansingh Yadav was declared elected from the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates constituency.
The BJP’s Manvendra Pratap Singh won the Agra Graduates constituency. The party also retained the Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers seat, with its candidate Hari Singh Dhillon defeating the SP nominee Danish Akhtar.
The BJP’s Umesh Dwivedi defeated the SP’s Sushil Kumar by 6,992 votes in the Lucknow Teachers constituency. In Meerut, the BJP won both the Teachers and Graduates seats.
In the Gorakhpur-Faizabad division Teachers constituency, the BJP’s Dhruv Kumar Tripathi was leading over his rival, Independent candidate Rajiv Yadav.
In a setback for the BJP, however, the SP’s Lal Bihari Yadav retained the Varanasi Teachers constituency, with the party’s Ashutosh Sinha also ahead in the Varanasi Graduates seat. The SP was also leading in the Lucknow Graduates seat.
In the Agra-Aligarh Teachers seat, SP candidate Akash Agrawal defeated BJP nominee Hari Kishore Tiwari.
The Congress and the BSP did not contest the MLC polls in UP as they said that they wanted to focus on the preparations for the 2027 Assembly polls.
In Maharashtra, BJP candidate Sudhakar Kohale was leading in the Nagpur Graduates constituency, while the Shiv Sena’s Kiran Sarnaik was ahead of his Congress rival in the Amravati Teachers seat.
In the Pune Teachers constituency, the BJP’s Kaustubh Gawade was ahead.
In the Pune Graduates constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Harshada Deshmukh-Jadhav was poised to sail through.
In the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad) Graduates constituency, NCP (SP) candidate Pratapsinh Patil was leading over the NCP’s sitting MLC Satish Chavan.
