The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) achieved some success in the electoral district seats of teachers and graduates of the Legislative Council elections, even as its leaders said the party was seeking to dominate teacher policy in the state. The party’s achievements come after it raised the stakes in these polls by launching an aggressive election campaign.
However, he faced stiff competition in some of the seats of the opposition Samajwadi Party and the independents.
Of the 11 seats in the MLC – six for professors and five for graduates – the BJP contested nine and endorsed an independent post for the faculty quota in Gorakhpur.
The results will not affect the general position in the Legislative Council of the UP, where the SP dominates with 52 seats against the 19 of the BJP, the 8 of the Bahujan Samaj Party and the 2 members of Congress. However, the party would increase its count after winning three of six teachers’ constituency seats. A party-backed independent also won at Gorakhpur. The SP won a victory in Varanasi and another independent candidate, who is a member of the unaided teachers team, won the Agra teachers position. It is believed that he enjoys the tacit support of the BJP. The state head of the unaided teachers association, Umesh Dwivedi, has already joined the BJP and won the elections from the Lucknow teachers quota.
Among the five graduate electoral seats, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party had won two seats each. The BJP was also a leader in the Agra graduate constituency. Overall results have yet to be officially announced.
The BJP was poised to win the Lucknow graduates’ seat, though it faced a setback in the Varanasi graduate constituency as well as the Allahabad-Jhansi graduate constituency, where it lost after 24 years.
Political experts said the BJP’s aggressive foray into these polls, where it got its top state leaders to campaign for the first time, was going to impact teacher policy in the state.
“It is now clear that, like these polls, the BJP would also aggressively contest the panchayat polls, where a good show would definitely provide a psychological advantage to the party before the 2022 UP assembly elections,” said Irshad Ilmi , a veteran political observer. .
He said this would be most apparent in western UP, where the BJP caused a major setback by ending the nearly 50-year rule of teacher leader Om Prakash Sharma, 87, who had been winning the seat since 1970.
“The results would impact teacher policy both inside and outside the UP Legislative Council,” agreed SK Dwivedi, retired head of the political science department at Lucknow University.
“Full results have not come so far, but there is no denying that BJP would now have a voice in teacher politics in a big way,” he added.
Even before the results for the 11 MLC seats came in, the BJP quickly shifted its focus to panchayat polls. His top state leadership met in the party’s office on Saturday to strategize for the next political assignment at UP. Panchayat polls in UP are expected to be announced early next year.
The SP cited its victory against the BJP in Allahabad and Varanasi as proof of what it termed its increasing acceptability.
“Despite desperate efforts to rig the ballot box by misusing official machinery, the BJP has suffered setbacks from Jhansi to Kashi. The Samajwadi Party symbol cycle advanced triumphantly and it is well prepared to win the 2022 assembly elections. The popularity of the party is growing and has also started to show itself, ”said SP MLC Sunil Yadav.
The BJP faced setbacks in the graduate constituency seat in Varanasi, losing to the SP there. The BJP did not officially challenge the Varanasi teacher position. The Allahabad-Jhansi graduate position was won by the SP and here the BJP cadres entered into a heated exchange of words with the police and administration.
“The results make it clear that only the SP has the ability to challenge and checkmate the BJP,” said SP leader IP Singh, although BJP leaders said they had made an impact and were looking to the future. The BJP was poised to win the seat of the Lucknow Graduate Constituency after a tough contest, where independent candidate Kanti Singh launched accusations against the administration of siding with the ruling party.
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