The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accelerated organisational preparations for the 11 seats in the Legislative Council elections for the Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituencies. The party has almost finalised the decision to re-nominate its existing members on six seats, while search for new faces on the remaining five seats is still ongoing. Candidates have also been instructed to start being active in their respective constituencies.
Current Composition of the Legislative Council
At present, the Legislative Council has:
- 79 members from BJP
- 10 members from Samajwadi Party (SP)
- BJP’s allies — Apna Dal (S), RLD, Nishad Party, and Subhaspa — have one member each
- 1 member from Jansatta Dal (Democratic)
- 1 member from the Teachers’ Group (non-political)
- 2 from Independent Groups
- 2 Independent members
- One seat is currently vacant
The elections, scheduled for December 2026, hold significant political importance as they will take place just before the 2027 Assembly elections. The voters in these elections—primarily teachers and graduates—are considered to berelatively aware and mature. According to political analysts, the results of these elections could strongly influence the atmosphere ahead of the assembly polls.
BJP’s Strategy: Repeating Old Faces
Party sources revealed that after receiving the green signal from the central leadership, BJP State President Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and General Secretary (Organisation) Dharampal Singh have instructed six sitting members to start preparing for the elections.
Currently, BJP is focusing on retaining its six seats and aiming to win the three seats held by the Samajwadi Party (SP). However, in important constituencies like Varanasi and Gorakhpur, the party is still finalising strong candidates.
SP Also Fields Old Faces
Like the BJP, SP has decided to re-nominate its three current members:
- Lal Bihari Yadav – Mirzapur-Varanasi Teachers’ Constituency
- Man Singh Yadav – Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’ Constituency
- Ashutosh Sinha – Varanasi-Mirzapur Graduates’ Constituency
In addition, SP has announced candidates for other constituencies:
- Kamlesh – Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ Constituency
- Kanti Singh – Lucknow Graduates’ Constituency
- Pramendra Bhati – Meerut-Saharanpur Graduates’ Constituency
- Dr Prakash Chandra Gupta – Agra-Aligarh
- Haji Mohammad Danish Akhtar – Bareilly-Moradabad
- Shashank Yadav – Agra
- Nitin Kumar Tomar – Meerut-Ghaziabad
Congress Announces 5 Candidates, BSP Remains Silent
The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has yet to disclose its plans. Typically, BSP does not contest these elections, but may strategically field candidates on select seats if needed.
Meanwhile, the Congress has announced five candidates:
- Arvind Singh Patel – Varanasi
- Raghuraj Singh Pal – Agra
- Dr Devmani Tiwari – Lucknow
- Vikrant Vashishtha – Meerut-Saharanpur
- Sanjay Rai Priyadarshi – Varanasi Teachers’ MLC
BJP’s Probable Candidates: Six Sitting Members in the Race
The six BJP members likely to be re-nominated are considered influential in their respective areas:
- Engineer Avneesh Singh Patel (Lucknow Graduates’ Constituency)
- – Close to Swatantra Dev Singh and influential among the Kurmi community. Has become active in his constituency again.
- Dr Manvendra Pratap Singh’ Guruji’ (Agra Graduates’ Constituency)
- – Started political career with ABVP. Currently a member of the National Monitoring Committee of the Union Education Ministry.
- Dinesh Kumar Goyal (Meerut Graduates’ Constituency)
- – Associated with educational institutions in Western UP, influential in the Vaishya community, and known for advocating teachers’ issues.
- Hari Singh Dhillon (Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’ Constituency)
- – Brother-in-law of State BJP President Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary; a prominent face in the Sikh community.
- Umesh Kumar Dwivedi (Lucknow Teachers’ Constituency)
- – Supporter of unaided teachers and the Brahmin community; holds a strong grip on the region.
- Shreechand Sharma (Meerut Teachers’ Constituency)
- – Defeated Om Prakash Sharma in 2019; has remained consistently active since.
Gorakhpur-Faizabad Seat: Preparing to Challenge Dhruv Kumar Tripathi
Dhruv Kumar Tripathi, current MLC from Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ Constituency, is considered close to CM Yogi Adityanath. However, he has often expressed disagreements with government policies in the house.
This time, the BJP is considering not re-nominating him and is exploring new strategies. Sources say Ajay Singh is under consideration—he had independent backing in the last election and has long represented unaided teachers. He may emerge as a strong BJP candidate.
BJP’s Focus on Two Varanasi Seats
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, the BJP suffered a defeat in the previous election. SP candidates Ashutosh Sinha and Lal Bihari Yadav had won.
This time, BJP is keen on avenging that loss. According to party sources, candidate selection for Varanasi and Mirzapur seats will only be finalised after PM Modi’s approval.
Amar Pal Maurya Assigned Organisational Charge
BJP has assigned the responsibility for the Teachers’ and Graduates’ constituency elections to State General Secretary and Rajya Sabha MP Amar Pal Maurya. He is joined by General Secretary Sanjay Rai, Vice President Trayambak Tripathi, and State Minister Shankar Giri in the committee.
Maurya’s team is now finalising the party’s election strategy focusing on membership drives, booth-level coordination, and candidate selection.
