The Samajwadi Party (SP) has won both Legislative Council seats in Varanasi, securing victories in the graduate and teachers’ constituencies in the Uttar Pradesh MLC elections. On Thursday, SP candidate Ashutosh Sinha won the Varanasi Graduate Constituency by a margin of 18,459 votes, defeating BJP candidate Kedar Nath Singh. The result followed the victory of SP leader Lal Bihari Yadav in the Varanasi Teachers’ Constituency, giving the party both seats in the region.

Ashutosh Sinha Wins Graduate Constituency
According to the reported results, Ashutosh Sinha received 53,573 votes after the 23rd round of counting, while Kedar Nath Singh secured 35,114 votes. Sinha defeated his BJP rival by 18,459 votes and was elected MLC for the second time. Reacting to his victory, Sinha said that this was only a glimpse of what lay ahead for the party across Uttar Pradesh. His victory came after an extended counting process that included the counting of second-preference votes.

Akhilesh Yadav Takes a Dig at BJP
Following the SP’s victories in both Varanasi constituencies, party president Akhilesh Yadav criticised the BJP with the remark, “Double engine, double zero.” The statement was a political jibe at the BJP, which often uses the “double-engine government” phrase to describe the same party governing at both the state and central levels. The Varanasi results gave the SP an opportunity to highlight its performance in the MLC elections.

BJP Retains Six Seats, SP Wins Five
Across the Uttar Pradesh MLC elections, the BJP retained six seats, while the SP won five, according to the figures in the report. The SP increased its seat tally by two compared with the previous election. The BJP held constituencies including Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad, Lucknow, Agra and Gorakhpur-Faizabad. In the Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ Constituency, the BJP reportedly won by a narrow margin of 307 votes.

SP Records Additional Wins Across Uttar Pradesh
Apart from its victories in Varanasi, the SP also won the Agra Teachers’ Constituency, the Allahabad-Jhansi Graduate Constituency and the Lucknow Graduate Constituency. The results showed a mixed electoral outcome, with the BJP retaining six seats and the SP securing five. Akhilesh Yadav described the results as a major setback for the BJP, although the party’s claim that the BJP had been completely wiped out does not reflect the overall seat tally reported.

MLC Results Ahead of the 2027 Assembly Elections
The results have drawn attention because they come ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections scheduled for 2027. Both the BJP and the SP are likely to examine the constituency-level outcomes as part of their broader political assessments. While the SP’s victories in Varanasi mark a notable result for the party, the MLC elections are distinct from the Assembly elections and do not, by themselves, determine the outcome of the next state polls.