Agra, Oct 28 — In the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council elections for the 'Teachers' and 'Graduates' constituencies, both the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have secured victories in Agra.
In the Agra Division Teachers' constituency, in a setback for the BJP, SP candidate Akash Agarwal won for the second consecutive time.
Meanwhile, in the Agra Division Graduates' constituency, BJP candidate Manvendra Pratap Singh, popularly known as 'Guruji', retained his seat by defeating the SP's Shashank Yadav.
Following his declaration as the winner in the Teachers' constituency, Returning Officer Narendra Pratap handed the certificate of victory to Akash Agarwal on Wednesday.
However, the administration did not immediately release the final official vote count.
Speaking to IANS following his victory, Agarwal said, "This result reflects the votes of teachers across all 12 districts. They trusted me over the other candidates, believing that I would work for their welfare."
Separately, following his victory in the Graduates' constituency, BJP candidate Manvendra Pratap Singh attributed the party's success to the hard work of its grassroots workers and the performance of the government.
He stated that the BJP received support from teachers, graduates, advocates, and journalists, which led to the party's victory. Singh added that the BJP has endeavoured to fulfil the promises it made.
Highlighting initiatives such as employment generation, transparency in government recruitment, the establishment of a medical college in every district, and the 'One District, One Product' scheme, he noted that government jobs in the state are now being awarded without any favour or inducement.
"In the past, a syndicate from Saifai and Rampur used to manipulate the job recruitment process. In contrast, under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, the recruitment process is now conducted transparently, with appointment letters being issued directly to the successful candidates," he alleged.
Agra Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar told reporters, "The counting process was carried out in accordance with the directives of the Election Commission of India. The winner for one constituency has been declared, while the final counting process for the other was still underway. The entire counting process concluded in a peaceful atmosphere."
"Security has been provided to both winning candidates. Due to the enforcement of Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in the city, no victory processions of any kind will be permitted. Clear instructions in this regard have been issued to the candidates," he added.
Addressing a question about the commotion that occurred during the night while counting was underway, Deepak Kumar clarified that the incident took place inside the counting venue, and no untoward event occurred outside. He added that the police have not received any complaints from anyone in this matter so far.