Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 29 : Congress leader Ajay Rai claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was “completely cornered” in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) election results. He also alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi was secured through "malpractice and theft".
Rai said the results of the MLC elections demonstrated that the BJP had been wiped out, claiming the public had delivered its verdict against the ruling party. 
“I would simply say that the Bharatiya Janata Party is now completely cornered. The results of these two MLC elections demonstrate that Modi had actually lost the 2024 election in Varanasi; he was made to win only through malpractice and theft. The public has clearly spoken--they have delivered a victory in the MLC elections, and the Bharatiya Janata Party has been completely wiped out," Rai told ANI. 
His remarks come after Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Lal Bihari Yadav secured victory from the Varanasi Teachers' seat.  
Of the 11 seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council for which elections were held, comprising five Graduates' and six Teachers' constituencies, the BJP won six seats, while the SP secured five seats including Varanasi and Agra. 
Meanwhile, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also accused the BJP of electoral malpractices and administrative manipulation in key constituencies such as Gorakhpur and Banaras (Varanasi). He claimed the election outcomes marked the beginning of the BJP’s political decline in the state.
In a post on X, Yadav asserted that the opposition’s 'PDA' (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) alliance had delivered a severe blow to the ruling party.
"In fact, they are secretly happy about the PDA's victory too; no one becomes a stranger just by leaving home. If the scheming BJP folks hadn't pulled that double-cross in Gorakhpur, the same fate as in Banaras would have befallen them there too. All in all, the BJP has suffered a moral defeat in Gorakhpur as well," he said.
"The MLC elections have packed up the BJP's bags and baggage. Despite extreme dishonesty and administrative tampering, no one could avert the BJP's downfall. All those corrupt officials who served the BJP will be hauled before the people's court once the PDA government takes power," he added.
In the MLC election, BJP candidate Hari Singh Dhillon retained the Bareilly-Moradabad seat. The party also won the Meerut Teachers’ constituency through Dinesh Kumar Goyal and the Meerut Graduates’ constituency through Chand Sharma. The BJP also secured the Lucknow Teachers’ seat.
The SP won the Varanasi Teachers’ Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates' and Agra-Aligarh Teachers’ constituencies. Additionally, SP leader Kanti Singh secured the Lucknow graduate constituency seat by defeating BJP's Avnish Kumar Singh.
Following the results, Akhilesh Yadav claimed the election outcomes marked the beginning of the BJP’s political decline in the state.