MLC polls: BJP wins big, but Congress & SP send a message from Nagpur, Varanasi

The MLC elections across four states brought both shock and cheer for the BJP and Congress. While the Congress suffered a humiliating defeat in Karnataka, where it is in power but failed to win a single seat, the BJP faltered in two constituencies which mattered the most. One being Nagpur, which is home to the RSS headquarters, and Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency.The BJP nevertheless emerged as the largest party, winning 13 of the 28 seats contested, while its allies took the NDA's tally to 16.

The alliance swept all four seats in Karnataka, won six of the 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh and secured four of the eight seats in Bihar. In Maharashtra, the ruling Mahayuti won two of the five seats, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi secured three.The Congress's only victory came from Nagpur, a political stronghold of Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Union minister Nitin Gadkari.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party retained the Varanasi Teachers' constituency and was heading towards victory in the Graduates' seat, both of which it had won in 2020.What began as celebrations and sharp jibes at the Congress on Wednesday turned into a war of words on Thursday, as the results in Nagpur and Varanasi gave the opposition grounds to question the BJP's claims of electoral dominance.BJP mocks Congress over 'zero' seatsAs the early results came in on Wednesday, BJP leaders targeted the Congress over its poor performance, particularly in Karnataka, where the party is in power but failed to win a single seat.PM Modi took a swipe at the opposition party on X, pointing out that voting in the four states had taken place using ballot papers."Guess how many seats Congress won?" he asked.The remark came amid the Congress's repeated allegations over electronic voting machines and its demand for a return to ballot-paper voting.BJP president Nitin Nabin also targeted the Congress, saying the party had failed to win public support despite voting being conducted using ballot papers."The people are repeatedly rejecting Congress' anarchist politics," Nabin said, adding that public trust remained with PM Modi irrespective of whether elections were conducted using EVMs or ballot papers.BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also attacked Rahul Gandhi over his allegations of vote theft"Kamchori ki aadat chhodiye.

Vote chori ka shabd apke muh se khud chhoot jayega," he said, asking the Congress leader to give up what he described as a habit of avoiding hard work.Nagpur win gives Congress a chance to respondCongress candidate and sitting MLC Abhijeet Wanjari defeated BJP's Sudhakar Kohale to retain the Nagpur Division Graduates' constituency after more than 40 hours of counting.Kohale had initially taken the lead before Wanjari overtook him through preferential votes.Nagpur is important for the BJP.

Besides housing the RSS headquarters, it is associated with Fadnavis and Gadkari, both of whom campaigned for Kohale.The Congress had wrested the seat from the BJP in 2020, when Wanjari defeated Sandip Joshi. By retaining it in 2026, the party prevented the BJP from reclaiming a constituency it had dominated for decades.The Maharashtra Congress also targeted Fadnavis over a social media post in which he had claimed that the party had failed to win a single seat.Sharing a screenshot of what it said was a deleted post by Fadnavis, the party accused him of celebrating before counting was complete.

The post had described the Congress's performance as a "big fat zero".The Congress said Fadnavis had been forced to delete the post after the Nagpur result and warned that the outcome was only a trailer of future political battles.Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also responded to PM Modi's remarks, questioning the BJP's losses in Nagpur and Varanasi."The Prime Minister needs to introspect, but instead, he's lecturing others!

Before counting Congress's seats, I wish he'd also reflect on why the BJP lost both seats in his own parliamentary constituency of Varanasi, and how Congress managed to defeat the BJP in RSS's stronghold of Nagpur?" Ramesh said."Mr. Modi, stop the trolling," he added, accusing the government of failing to address inflation, unemployment and weak private investment.Ramesh claimed that voters in Varanasi, Nagpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj and Patna had expressed dissatisfaction with the Centre's policies.Varanasi setback gives SP a boost ahead of 2027The BJP's biggest setback in Uttar Pradesh came from Varanasi, where the Samajwadi Party retained the Teachers' seat and established an unassailable lead in the Graduates' constituency.The BJP retained six of the 11 seats contested in the state, while the SP won four and was heading towards a fifth.The SP had won both Varanasi seats in 2020 as well.

Six years later, the BJP has failed to dislodge the party from either constituency despite its strong presence in the region.Although the two MLC constituencies cover a wider geographical area than PM Modi's Lok Sabha seat, the results carry political significance given Varanasi's association with the Prime Minister since 2014.They also come after PM Modi's victory margin in Varanasi declined from nearly 4.8 lakh votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to around 1.5 lakh in 2024.Across Uttar Pradesh, the SP's tally is set to rise from three seats in 2020 to five, while the BJP has retained its tally of six.The SP had also emerged as the largest party in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, winning 37 of the state's 80 parliamentary seats against the BJP's 33.BJP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya acknowledged that the party had expected a better performance."These elections are decided by highly educated and qualified voters.

The BJP has repeated its previous performance, but we expected to win more seats. We will examine why we fell short," Maurya said.The SP, meanwhile, has repeatedly accused the BJP of electoral irregularities, allegations the ruling party has…