UP MLC polls: BJP gets 3, SP 2 seats; counting on

Results of the six teachers seats have been declared, but the counting was delayed in the graduates constituencies as second and third preference votes were being tallied before the declaration of results, the election office said.BJPs Umesh Dwivedi, Shrishchandra Sharma and Hari Singh Dhillon were declared winners from Lucknow, Meerut and Bareilly-Moradabad teachers constituencies respectively, an official statement said.

The ruling BJP won three seats and the Samajwadi Party bagged two in election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council on Friday. Counting was in progress close to midnight in four other seats and the results are expected by early Saturday morning, officials said.

Polling was held on Tuesday for 11 seats -- five reserved for graduates and six teachers. Results of the six teachers' seats have been declared, but the counting was delayed in the graduates' constituencies as second and third preference votes were being tallied before the declaration of results, the election office said.

BJP's Umesh Dwivedi, Shrishchandra Sharma and Hari Singh Dhillon were declared winners from Lucknow, Meerut and Bareilly-Moradabad teachers' constituencies respectively, an official statement said. SP candidates Lal Bihari Yadav won from Varanasi teachers' constituency and Mansingh Yadav from Jhansi-Allahabad graduates' seat. Independents Akash Agarwal and Dhruv Kumar Tripathi won from Agra and Faizabad teachers' constituencies respectively, it said.

The BJP, SP, Congress and teachers' associations contested the polls, which saw 199 candidates crossing swords. The term of office of the MLCs from these constituencies expired on May 6. Earlier in the day, BJP workers had heated exchanges with police after they alleged anomalies in the counting of votes from the Allahabad-Jhansi division graduates' constituency. Local BJP leaders, including BJP's Jhansi district president Mukesh Mishra, and some party workers tried to barge into the counting centre, but were prevented by the police, an eyewitness said.

As the police removed them from the spot, BJP MLAs Ravi Sharma and Jawahar Rajput and others workers staged a sit-in outside the centre, demanding recounting of votes, alleging that the BJP votes were counted for the SP candidate. Samajwadi Party district president Mahesh Kashyap, who also staged a sit-in with party leaders there, alleged the BJP leaders were trying to loot ballot boxes from the counting centre and indulged in hooliganism after realising their impending defeat in the election.

Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar P said some people did try to enter the counting centre, but were prevented from doing it and removed from there. "There was no hindrance in counting," he said. PTI ABN CORR SMI HMB.