Lucknow: Signalling a blend of continuity and organisational outreach ahead of UP Assembly elections, BJP on Tuesday announced candidates for the remaining six of the 11 Legislative Council seats from graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies that go to the polls on Oct 23.The elections are being held for five graduates’ and six teachers’ constituencies, with the terms of the sitting MLCs ending on Dec 6.Kedar Nath Singh has been fielded from Varanasi Graduates’ constituency and Ashok Kumar Rathore from Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates’, while BJP has retained Dinesh Goel from the Meerut Graduates’ seat.In the teachers’ category, the party has nominated Dr Pramod Mishra from Varanasi Teachers’ and Hari Kishore Tiwari from Agra Teachers’. Dhruv Tripathi has been re-nominated from Gorakhpur-Faizabad Teachers’ constituency.The latest announcement completes BJP’s candidate list for all 11 seats. On May 24, the party had decided to retain Awanish Kumar Singh (Lucknow Graduates’), Manvendra Pratap Singh (Agra Graduates’), Hari Singh Dhillon (Bareilly-Moradabad Teachers’), Umesh Dwivedi (Lucknow Teachers’) and Shrichand Sharma (Meerut Teachers’).Graduate and teacher constituencies are considered significant in Uttar Pradesh’s political landscape as voters are drawn not from the general electorate but from registered graduates and teachers. The contests are often fiercely fought, with candidates relying on organisational strength, networks within educational institutions and influence among professionals and opinion-makers.By balancing fresh faces with seasoned incumbents across eastern, central and western Uttar Pradesh, BJP appears to be sharpening its outreach to the educated electorate while consolidating its organisational base in the run-up to the 2027 Assembly polls.
