UP MLC Election 2026: 11 Graduate & Teacher Seats, 14.81 Lakh Voters, Key Candidates and Counting Date

Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls today, 23 October 2026, for 11 seats of the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council) — five elected by graduates and six by teachers. It is not the big 2027 Assembly fight, but both the BJP and the Samajwadi Party have campaigned as if it were a dress rehearsal: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held meetings for BJP candidates across the state, and SP president Akhilesh Yadav has accused the ruling party of pressuring teachers and graduate voters — an allegation the BJP has not accepted and which has not been independently verified. Here is everything you need to know.

Which UP MLC seats are going to the polls?

Each of these constituencies covers a large group of districts. Polling is taking place across 72 of the state's 75 districts — Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat and Unnao, which fall in the Kanpur graduates' and teachers' constituencies, are not voting this time because those seats are not due for election.

UP MLC election 2026 schedule

The same schedule applies to the graduates' and teachers' seats polling in Bihar (8), Maharashtra (5) and Karnataka (4) — 28 seats nationally.

The contests being watched

The main fight on most seats is between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party, though teacher-organisation candidates and independents are traditionally strong in teachers' seats — independents won two of the six teachers' seats in 2020. Main contenders as reported by regional media:

Corrected on 27 October 2026: an earlier version of this table did not separate teachers' and graduates' seats and listed a different SP candidate for Agra. The full list of 152 candidates is available from the Returning Officers and the Chief Electoral Officer, Uttar Pradesh.

Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak also campaigned for BJP candidates, while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed meetings in Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Varanasi, Agra, Mirzapur and Bareilly. Issues that typically dominate graduates' and teachers' campaigns — jobs and recruitment exams, contractual and aided-school teachers' service conditions, and pensions — have again been central.

Who can vote in these 11 seats?

• Graduates' seats: residents of the constituency who have been graduates (or hold an equivalent qualification) for at least three years before the qualifying date of 1 November 2025, and whose names are on the graduates' roll.
• Teachers' seats: teachers with at least three years of teaching in the last six years in a secondary school or higher institution in the state, enrolled on the teachers' roll.

Both rolls are separate from the regular voter list. Chief Electoral Officer Navdeep Rinwa said the rolls were prepared digitally for the first time in the state, and that fewer than 150 electors — under 0.01% — had errors in printed names or parents' details. Voters can find their polling station and serial number on the CEO's website; our step-by-step guide shows how: Padvidhar matdar list download.

Voting is on a paper ballot with preference numbers. If you are voting today, read how to mark your ballot without making it invalid.

How the UP Vidhan Parishad is made up

The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council has 100 members, chosen in five ways:

Members serve six-year terms, with one-third retiring every two years. The eight graduates' constituencies are Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Allahabad-Jhansi, Kanpur, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad; the remaining graduates' and teachers' seats not voting now were last filled in early 2023. For a full explanation of how each category works, see What Is MLC Election? Who Votes.

Why these results matter for 2027

The 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly election is expected in February–March 2027. Graduates' and teachers' seats are small in number, but they are one of the few direct, state-wide tests of how educated, salaried and younger urban voters feel — the same groups both parties are courting on jobs, recruitment exams and pensions.

• A strong BJP showing would bolster its claim that its governance message is landing with the educated middle class ahead of a bid for a rare third consecutive term.
• Gains for the SP would support its argument that unemployment and recruitment controversies are hurting the government, and would energise its PDA (Pichhda-Dalit-Alpsankhyak) outreach among younger voters.
• Strong performances by teacher-union or independent candidates in the teachers' seats would show that professional issues still outweigh party loyalty in this electorate.

Counting begins on the morning of 27 October 2026. Because of preference-vote transfers, final results in large graduates' seats can take until late night. Track our coverage on the results page and explainers section.