UP MLC Polls: Akhilesh Yadav Alleges Slow Counting, Warns Officials Against Malpractice

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday accused the Election Commission of deliberately delaying the counting of votes for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections and demanded transparency in the declaration of results.

In a post on X, Yadav urged Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to intervene immediately, alleging that votes were being counted slowly and round-wise results were not being officially communicated to political parties or the media.

“Do not make a mockery of democracy,” Yadav said, calling for transparent and timely disclosure of the counting results.

SP warns of protests over counting

He added that SP workers and office-bearers were closely monitoring the counting process and would remain vigilant until the party's candidates received their victory certificates. Yadav also warned that the party would launch a protest and file cases against district magistrates and commissioners if they attempted any malpractice.

BJP and SP lead in trends

The allegations came as counting continued for 11 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats, comprising five graduate and six teacher constituencies. The elections are being closely watched ahead of the state's next Assembly election.

According to the initial trends available during counting, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the SP were leading in four seats each, while trends for the remaining three seats were yet to be established.

Counting was underway across seven districts for constituencies including Lucknow, Varanasi, Agra, Meerut, Allahabad-Jhansi, Bareilly-Moradabad and Gorakhpur-Faizabad.

Varanasi lead and Lucknow dispute

In Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, SP candidate Lal Bihari was reportedly leading in the first round of counting for the teacher constituency.

Meanwhile, a dispute over valid and invalid ballot papers triggered a commotion at the counting centre in Lucknow.

The Election Commission had not issued a response to Yadav's allegations in the information available at the time of writing.