The Congress has failed to win any of the 28 Legislative Council seats contested in biennial elections across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The party suffered its most significant setback in Karnataka, where the ruling BJP-JD(S) alliance won all four seats, including a constituency previously held by a Congress MLC.
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The outcome has raised questions about the organisational strength of the DK Shivakumar-led government and Congress’s ability to convert its control of the state Assembly into support among graduates and teachers.
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The results were declared or were emerging as counting continued on October 28. Since the elections are limited to registered graduates and teachers, they do not offer a direct measure of wider public sentiment in the four states. Local political equations, candidate networks and alliances also have a strong influence on these contests. Even so, the Congress’s failure to secure a single seat across 28 constituencies is a setback that the party will find difficult to ignore.
BJP-JD(S) sweep all four Karnataka seats
Karnataka’s result carries added significance because Congress is the party in government in the state and has held power since 2023. The BJP and JD(S) contested the seats together, giving the opposition alliance an advantage in its challenge to the ruling party.
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The elections were held on October 23, and the contest was closely watched as a test of Congress’s ability to mobilise support beyond the Assembly electorate. DK Shivakumar, who is deeply involved in the party’s Karnataka organisation and election efforts, had instructed ministers to campaign across the constituencies, reflecting the importance Congress attached to the polls.
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The sharpest defeat for Congress came in the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency. JD(S) candidate AP Ranganath defeated sitting Congress MLC Puttanna by 908 votes. Ranganath polled 10,810 votes, while Puttanna received 9,902 votes, allowing the alliance to take a seat that Congress had previously held.
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The BJP retained its position in the other three constituencies. Shashil G Namoshi won the North-East Teachers’ seat, SV Sankanur secured the West Graduates’ constituency and KM Suresh won the South-East Graduates’ seat.
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Namoshi’s victory was particularly notable because the constituency covers Kalaburagi, the home region of Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge.
The Karnataka results have prompted questions about whether the Congress government has been able to turn its electoral mandate and welfare guarantees into support among organised professional groups. Leaders of the BJP’s Karnataka unit described the result as a rejection of what they called corruption, irregularities and unfulfilled promises.
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The defeat does not pose an immediate threat to the survival of the Congress government, and the restricted electorate means the result cannot be treated as a referendum on the entire state. However, it gives the BJP-JD(S) alliance a political and organisational boost ahead of the next Assembly election, which is due in 2028. Union Minister and JD(S) chief HD Kumaraswamy described the sweep as a mandate for 2028 and presented it as evidence of the alliance’s growing strength.
Congress remains without a win in other states
Congress’s zero-seat tally in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra points to a wider electoral challenge, although the political conditions in these states are different from those in Karnataka. Congress is not in government in any of the three states, while regional parties, alliances and the strength of individual candidates have shaped the contests.
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In Uttar Pradesh, 11 seats were contested. The BJP retained the seats in Meerut, Bareilly-Moradabad and Lucknow, while the Samajwadi Party won the Varanasi Teachers’ and Agra Teachers’ constituencies. Counting was still in progress in several constituencies when the results were being compiled, with the emerging trends indicating a strong position for the BJP and gains for the SP in important seats.
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Bihar’s eight-seat contest produced a divided outcome. The Rashtriya Janata Dal won the Patna Teachers’ constituency, the BJP captured the Tirhut Teachers’ seat, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party secured its first Legislative Council victory in Darbhanga, and Independent candidate Rahul Raj won the Saran Teachers’ constituency.
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The Jan Suraaj Party’s Darbhanga victory came at the expense of sitting Congress MLC Madan Mohan Jha. Counting for the graduates’ constituencies was continuing, leaving the final state-wise picture incomplete at the time of publication.
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Maharashtra’s five seats were also awaiting final results, with counting under way between the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi. The BJP-led Mahayuti was gaining ground in the emerging trends.
Why the MLC results matter
Legislative Council elections in graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies cannot be directly compared with Assembly elections. The electorate is smaller and consists of registered voters from specified professional categories. Voting is conducted through ballot papers and preferential voting, making personal outreach, candidate-level networks and the transfer of preferences important factors.
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This means a party can lose such constituencies without necessarily losing support among the wider electorate. At the same time, Congress’s failure to win even one seat across four states remains politically significant, particularly in Karnataka, where it is the ruling party.
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The Karnataka outcome also highlighted the impact of opposition coordination. The BJP and JD(S) fought the four seats as allies, with the BJP winning three and the JD(S) taking the Bengaluru Teachers’ constituency.
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Congress’s zero-seat tally is therefore a warning rather than a final assessment of its national electoral standing. The ongoing counts in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra could change the final state-wise distribution, but Karnataka’s result is settled: the ruling party lost all four seats, including one that had been held by Congress.