UP MLC Polls: BJP’s Kashi Setback Raises Alarm Ahead of 2027 Assembly Battle
UP MLC election results put the BJP on alert ahead of 2027 as the SP wins five seats, including Kashi. (Image video grab)
By TRH Political Desk
The Samajwadi Party’s five-seat tally and its victory in the prestigious Kashi constituency signal a tougher challenge for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, while the Congress draws a blank in Karnataka and Bihar delivers a mixed verdict.
New Delhi, October 28, 2026 — While Congress rout in the MLC elections gains spotlight, Uttar Pradesh has sent a clear warning to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The Samajwadi Party won five seats, while the BJP was victorious in six constituencies. For the BJP, the setback in the prestigious Kashi constituency, which is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, rings an alarm bell in the saffron camp.
Almost signalling a neck and neck contest in UP, the BJP appears bracing up for a major anti-incumbency factor in the upcoming Assembly elections. In 2024, Lok Sabha elections, the SP had won 37 Lok Sabha seats to reduce the BJP to number two position in the state in the parliamentary poll outcomes.
The MLC elections are held with a narrow base of electorates consisting of graduates and teachers. Political observers opine that the MLC elections may not fully mirror the political mood in a state. In the Assembly elections, the vote base will be universal franchise.
But Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath may read warning signs in the MLC election verdicts. He will seek a third straight term for the BJP in the next year’s Assembly polls. Unlike the past two Assembly polls in the state, Akhilesh Yadav is leading SP as a formidable challenger with an expanding support base.
Adityanath is also facing churns within the social support base of the BJP, as sections of the upper caste constituency are squirming due to a number of reasons. The Ram Temple donation theft row also stays politically hot in the state, putting the BJP on the backfoot.
In Bihar, the BJP won three MLC seats but the Janata Dal (United) could win just one constituency. Two Independents won in Bihar, which may alarm the ranks of the JD (U). Jan Suraj Party (JSP) also opened its account in the Bihar legislative council by winning one seat. Earlier, JSP founder Prashant Kishor had won the Bankipur Assembly byelections.
The Congress failed to open its accounts in the MLC elections, failing to win even one seat. The party couldn’t win even one seat in Karnataka where the Congress is in power. The state goes to the Assembly elections in 2028.
In Maharashtra, the Opposition alliance had somewhat the consolation of winning two seats against the three of the ruling NDA in the state.
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