LUCKNOW: The BJP and the Samajwadi Party have fielded candidates for the two vacant seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, and voting for that by-election got underway in Lucknow on Monday.

Voting started at 9 am and will last until 4 pm. At 5 o'clock, the voting will start to be counted. By nightfall, the results should be announced. The BJP is well-positioned to win for both of its candidates based on its size in the legislative assembly.

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister, and Suresh Khanna, the minister of finance, were among those who voted in the morning, An Assembly Secretariat official said. The resignation of Laxman Acharya and the passing of Banwari Lal Dohre forced the two seats to go to byelections. Acharya's term as Sikkim's governor was scheduled to end in January 2027, while Dohre's was scheduled to end in July 2028.

Manvendra Singh and Padamsen Chowdhary are running for the BJP, and Ram Jatan Rajbhar and Ramkaran Nirmal are running for the Samajwadi Party.

The deadline to submit nominations was May 18, and the notification for the byelections was released on May 11. Only members of the assembly are entitled to vote in the legislative council elections.  In the 403-member house, the BJP has 255 MLAs, while allies Apna Dal (Sonelal) has 13 and the NISHAD Party has six.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal, a partner of the Samajwadi Party, has nine MLAs. The Congress, the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik), and the Bahujan Samaj Party each have two MLAs, while the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party has six.

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