Educated Voters Skip Assembly Polls: UP Minister Downplays MLC Results

Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar dismissed the recent legislative council election outcomes, noting that the Samajwadi Party’s win in the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency reflected the will of educated voters rather than the broader electorate.

Speaking to reporters, Rajbhar said the MLC elections were unrelated to the upcoming 2027 assembly polls. He added that historically, educated voters often abstain from voting in assembly elections, treating the day as a holiday.

In the biennial MLC contest, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured six seats while the Samajwadi Party (SP) won five of the 11 seats. The results were announced months before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, which are expected to be a key test of popularity between the BJP and the SP.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav described the BJP’s performance as a “double defeat” and said the MLC results laid the groundwork for his party’s success in the assembly polls. In a post on X, he noted the BJP lost the Varanasi Graduates’ constituency in both the initial count and the recount, calling it a “double defeat of the double engine government”.

The SP leader also said the BJP’s loss was a rejection of its policies on teachers, students and education, and that “educated unemployed graduates” had delivered their verdict against the party.

The MLC elections are scheduled for 2025, with the next assembly elections set for 2027. The results are seen as an early indicator of voter sentiment but are not directly linked to the assembly vote.

For verification, the official election commission website lists the seat distribution and the dates of the MLC and assembly elections. The statements from Rajbhar and Akhilesh Yadav are reported by the Times of India and can be cross‑checked with their published articles.

Key practical implications include a potential shift in campaign focus toward educated voters ahead of the assembly elections and a reassessment of voter turnout strategies by both parties.