When will the padvidhar election result 2026 be declared in UP?

Counting began at 8 am on 27 October 2026. Graduates' seats usually take longest because of large electorates and preference rounds, so results may come late on 27 October or on 28 October.

Which UP graduates' (snatak) seats were contested in 2026?

Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi graduates' constituencies.

How many graduate voters are there in the UP MLC election 2026?

11,85,706 registered graduate electors across the five seats, out of 14,81,310 electors in all 11 seats.

Who is contesting the Lucknow Graduates MLC seat?

The BJP renominated sitting MLC Avanish Kumar Singh, who won the seat in 2020 by 6,403 votes after preference counting. Several other candidates are in the fray.

Who are the main candidates in Varanasi Graduates?

The SP's sitting MLC Ashutosh Sinha against the BJP's Kedar Nath Singh, as reported.

How many votes does a candidate need to win a graduates' seat?

More than half of the valid votes — the quota. If nobody reaches it on first preferences, lower-placed candidates are eliminated and their ballots transferred until someone does.

UP Padvidhar (Graduates') MLC Election Result 2026 Live: Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut and Allahabad-Jhansi

Uttar Pradesh's five graduates' (padvidhar / snatak) Council seats are being counted on 27 October 2026. Seat-wise contenders, turnout, 2020 results, why graduates' seats take longest to declare, and results as they come.

Live status — 27 October 2026, afternoon: Counting is in progress for all five graduates' seats. Bundling and first-preference counting were under way at the counting centres; no graduates' seat had been officially declared at the time of this update. Graduates' seats usually take the longest — results may come late tonight or tomorrow. We update this page as each Returning Officer declares a winner.

A padvidhar (graduates') seat is elected only by registered graduates — in Uttar Pradesh it is usually called a snatak nirvachan kshetra. This time, five of UP's eight graduates' seats were up for election, with 11,85,706 registered graduate electors — about four out of every five voters in this round of Council polls. That is why the padvidhar election result is the bigger political signal: it is the closest thing to a state-wide reading of educated, salaried and young urban voters before the 2027 Assembly election.

5Graduates' seats counted today

11.86 lakhRegistered graduate electors

38–51%Seat-wise turnout on 23 Oct

3–2BJP–SP split among these seats before the poll

Padvidhar (graduates') MLC result 2026: seat-wise status

Seat	Counting centre	Main contenders (as reported)	Turnout	Result
Lucknow Graduates	Ramabai Rally Ground, Hall 7	Avanish Kumar Singh (BJP, sitting MLC) and others	about 38%	Counting in progress
Varanasi Graduates	State Warehousing Corporation, Hall 1	Kedar Nath Singh (BJP) vs Ashutosh Sinha (SP, sitting MLC)	41.01%	Counting in progress
Agra Graduates	Naveen Krishi Utpadan Mandi Samiti, Tundla Road	BJP vs SP and independents	about 51%	Counting in progress
Meerut Graduates	Gandhi Hall, SVPAU&T Modipuram, Hall A	BJP vs SP and independents	39.81%	Counting in progress
Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates	Kothari Hall, Bundelkhand Degree College, Jhansi	BJP vs SP and independents	41.40%	Counting in progress

Contenders and turnout as reported by regional media; turnout is provisional. Only the Returning Officer's declaration is final. Winners, first-preference votes and the round in which the quota was reached will be added here.

Seat by seat: what to watch

Lucknow Graduates

The BJP renominated its sitting MLC Avanish Kumar Singh, who first won the seat in 2020 by 6,403 votes over independent Kanti Singh — after preference counting, a reminder of how much second and third choices matter here. On counting morning he said the party would win, citing strong turnout. The Lucknow division covers seven districts. Turnout there was low for a graduates' seat, with reported district figures ranging from about 44% in Kheri and 41% in Sitapur down to 34.51% in Lucknow district itself and 31.24% in Pratapgarh. Lucknow district alone has 96,070 graduate electors.

Varanasi Graduates

A direct BJP-SP fight: the SP's Ashutosh Sinha, elected in 2020, is defending the seat against the BJP's Kedar Nath Singh. The Varanasi seats cover eight districts — Varanasi, Ballia, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Chandauli, Bhadohi, Mirzapur and Sonbhadra. On counting day, SP workers complained that some CCTV cameras at the counting site were off; Sinha said the administration had assured repairs and additional cameras.

Agra Graduates

Agra recorded the highest graduates' turnout in this round, around 51%. The Agra polls were marked by controversy on the teachers' side — booth-capturing allegations led the Election Commission to suspend six officials and order re-polling at three teachers' polling stations — so counting in Agra is under close watch.

Meerut Graduates

Western UP's graduates' seat polled 39.81%. The result will be read alongside the Meerut Teachers' contest, where the BJP's sitting MLC Shrichand Sharma faces the SP's Nitin Kumar Tomar.

Allahabad-Jhansi Graduates

Covering the Prayagraj and Jhansi regions, this seat is counted in Jhansi. Turnout was 41.40%. Prayagraj recorded one of the biggest jumps in Assembly voters after the SIR, and recruitment-exam and job issues — central in Prayagraj, a hub for competitive-exam aspirants — are expected to shape the graduate vote here.

Why graduates' seats take longest to declare

Bigger electorates. 11.86 lakh graduate electors against 2.96 lakh teachers means many more ballots to sort and count by hand.
More candidates. Graduates' seats attract many independents, which spreads first preferences thin and makes it less likely anyone crosses the quota early.
Preference rounds. The winner needs more than half of the valid votes. If nobody gets there on first preferences, the bottom candidate is eliminated and their ballots move to second preferences — repeatedly, until someone does.
Invalid ballots. Each ballot is checked for a valid "1". Disputed ballots are decided by the Returning Officer, and candidates can seek recounts of particular rounds.

In December 2020, teachers' results were out first while graduates' counting was still going on the next day, with BJP candidates leading most seats at that stage.

What a padvidhar result tells us

Graduate voters skew urban, salaried and younger, and include large numbers of competitive-exam aspirants. Their verdict is read for the two issues that dominate UP politics among the educated: jobs and recruitment exams. A BJP sweep would suggest the government has contained the anger over paper leaks and vacancies; SP gains — especially beyond Varanasi — would suggest the opposite heading into 2027.

See all 11 seats on one page: UP MLC Election Result 2026 LIVE. New to these elections? Read What Is Padvidhar Election?