Varanasi: The counting of votes for the Varanasi Graduate Constituency of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) has stretched beyond 48 hours, transforming into a high-stakes political drama between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP). While SP candidate Ashutosh Sinha maintains a comfortable lead, the final results remain undeclared due to a lack of an absolute majority in first-preference votes and ongoing allegations of counting malpractices.
The tension escalated when BJP candidate Kedarnath Singh, backed by several party ministers and MLAs, staged a five-hour sit-in protest at the counting centre. The BJP alleged foul play, claiming that only an SP agent was present during the critical fifth round of counting. They demanded a recount, which was eventually assured by officials, leading to the end of the protest.
Interestingly, a major faux pas occurred during the BJP’s protest. The leaders were protesting against Pranjal Yadav, whom they believed was the observer for the graduate constituency. However, it was later revealed that Yadav was the observer for the teachers’ constituency, while G.C. Priyadarshi was overseeing the graduate constituency counting, leading to an awkward moment for the protesting leaders.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav launched a scathing attack on the ruling party and the Election Commission. He alleged a deliberate conspiracy to stall the results to prevent the news of a BJP defeat in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency from making national headlines.
“The result of the victory of the SP candidate is ready, but the certificate of victory is not being given. The Election Commission has a final chance to prove its impartiality, otherwise its officials should resign because they have failed to conduct the counting of votes,” Akhilesh Yadav stated. He also urged SP workers to remain stationed at the counting centre until the final certificate is handed over.
As per the latest updates, the counting of all nine rounds of first-preference votes has concluded. SP’s Ashutosh Sinha secured 50,462 votes, establishing a lead of 16,990 votes over BJP’s Kedarnath Singh, who received 33,472 votes. However, with a total of 1,18,000 votes cast, a candidate needs 59,001 votes to secure an outright victory. Since Sinha fell short of this magic number in the first preference, the election will now be decided through the counting of second-preference votes. Despite the delay, political analysts consider Sinha’s victory highly probable.