UP MLC Elections 2026: Complete Roster of BJP and Samajwadi Party Candidates Across Graduate and Teachers Seats

On October 23, voters in Uttar Pradesh will head to the polls to choose members of the Legislative Council (MLC) for 11 different seats. It’s not just another routine election – it’s a pre‑showcase for the big 2027 Assembly fight, and both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) are pulling out all the stops.

Let’s break down who’s standing where. In the graduate constituencies, the BJP has fielded Avanish Kumar Singh in Lucknow, where he’ll square off against SP’s Kanti Singh. Over in Agra, Dr Manvendra Pratap Singh represents the BJP, while the SP has put forward Akash Agarwal.

Moving north, the Meerut‑Saharanpur graduate seat pits BJP’s Dinesh Goyal against SP hopeful Pramendra Bhati. In Varanasi‑Mirzapur, the contest is between BJP’s Kedarnath Singh and SP’s Ashutosh Sinha. And in the Allahabad‑Jhansi constituency, BJP veteran Ashok Kumar Rathore will meet SP’s Dr Man Singh Yadav.

The teachers’ seats are no less fiery. In Lucknow, BJP’s Umesh Dwivedi faces off with SP’s Sushil Kumar Patel. Meerut‑Ghaziabad sees Shrichand Sharma (BJP) versus Nitin Kumar Tomar (SP). In Bareilly‑Moradabad, Dr Hari Singh Dhillon (BJP) takes on Haji Mohammad Danish Akhtar (SP). Varanasi’s teachers’ constituency matches BJP’s Dr Pramod Mishra against SP’s Lal Bihari Yadav.

Agra‑Aligarh follows the same script with BJP’s Hari Kishore Tiwari against SP’s Dr Prakash Chandra Gupta, while in Gorakhpur‑Faizabad the BJP’s Dhruv Tripathi will wrestle with Dr Sanjay Kumar Tripathi – a former BJP stalwart who switched sides after being denied a ticket.

Speaking of ticket‑tussles, a few rebel candidates have turned the race into a bit of a circus. Dr Sanjay Kumar Tripathi, feeling snubbed by the BJP, joined the SP’s ranks, and his candidacy adds a layer of drama in Gorakhpur‑Faizabad. Earlier, former MLC Devendra Pratap Singh from Faizabad penned a heartfelt plea to voters, asking them to help him “avenge the humiliation” he says he suffered when his ticket was cut.

Even SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has stepped into the fray, personally urging people to back Kanti Singh in Lucknow’s graduate seat. The whole atmosphere feels like a high‑stakes rehearsal for the 2027 assembly showdown, with both parties trying to signal they still have the political muscle to dominate Uttar Pradesh.

With campaigning winding down on Wednesday evening, the real question now is which of these candidates will manage to translate their ground‑level hustle into votes on the ballot. Whatever the outcome, the MLC results will likely set the tone for the next year’s bigger battles.