EC announces Legislative Council polls in 4 states; UP leads with 11 seats
Synopsis
The Election Commission has set 23 October as polling day for 28 Legislative Council seats across Bihar, UP, Karnataka and Maharashtra — with UP's 11 seats making it the biggest single-state contest. On the same day, the ECI also announced 11 Rajya Sabha vacancies across three states, marking a significant twin electoral calendar update with the Model Code of Conduct already in force.
Key Takeaways
The Election Commission of India announced biennial Legislative Council elections on 22 September 2026 for Bihar , Uttar Pradesh , Karnataka , and Maharashtra .
A total of 28 seats in Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies will go to polls on 23 October 2026 , from 8 AM to 4 PM .
Uttar Pradesh has the highest share with 11 seats — 5 Graduates' and 6 Teachers' constituencies.
Nominations open from 29 September ; last date for withdrawal is 9 October ; results on 27 October .
The ECI simultaneously announced biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh , Uttarakhand , and West Bengal .
The Model Code of Conduct came into force immediately upon the announcement on 22 September 2026 .
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, announced the schedule for biennial elections to the Legislative Councils of four states — Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. A total of 28 seats across Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies will go to the polls, with Uttar Pradesh holding the largest share at 11 seats. The Model Code of Conduct came into effect immediately upon the announcement.
Key Election Dates
The official notification for the biennial elections will be issued on 29 September. Candidates may file their nominations up to 6 October, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is 9 October. Voting across all 28 Legislative Council seats in the four states is scheduled for 23 October, between 8 AM and 4 PM. Results will be declared on 27 October.
Uttar Pradesh: 11 Seats at Stake
Uttar Pradesh accounts for 5 Graduates' constituencies and 6 Teachers' constituencies — a combined 11 seats whose sitting members are due to retire on 6 December 2026. The outgoing members include Awanish Kumar Singh (Lucknow Division-Graduates'), Ashutosh Sinha (Varanasi Division-Graduates'), Dr Manvendra Pratap Singh (Agra Division-Graduates'), Dinesh Kumar Goel (Meerut Division-Graduates'), and Dr Man Singh Yadav (Allahabad-Jhansi Division-Graduates'). In the Teachers' category, the retiring members are Umesh Dwivedi (Lucknow Division), Lal Biharee Yadav (Varanasi Division), Dr Akash Agrawal (Agra Division), Srichand Sharma (Meerut Division), Hari Singh Dhillon (Bareilly-Moradabad Division), and Dhruv Kumar Tripathi (Gorakhpur-Faizabad Division).
Rajya Sabha Polls Also Announced
In a separate notification issued the same day, the ECI announced the schedule for biennial elections to 11 Rajya Sabha seats across three states — Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal. These vacancies arise in November 2026 due to the retirement of sitting members. This makes the 22 September announcement a twin electoral calendar update, covering both upper-house tiers simultaneously.
What This Means for State Politics
Legislative Council elections in Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies are often seen as an indicator of ground-level sentiment among educated voters, a constituency that parties across the political spectrum actively court. In Uttar Pradesh, where the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) remain in sharp contest, the 11 seats carry political significance ahead of the state assembly cycle. Notably, these elections proceed through the preferential voting system, making alliance arithmetic and vote-transfer strategies crucial. The results on 27 October will be an early data point for parties recalibrating their strategies in these states.
Point of View
But this round deserves attention on two counts. First, the simultaneous announcement of 11 Rajya Sabha vacancies across UP, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal signals a compressed electoral calendar that will stretch party machinery in three politically consequential states at once. Second, UP's 11 MLC seats — spread across educated-voter constituencies — are a subtle but real test of the BJP's organisational strength in a state it must hold heading into the next assembly cycle. The ECI's bundling of both announcements on the same day is efficient, but it also means the Model Code of Conduct kicks in broadly, constraining government activity across multiple states simultaneously.
NationPress
22 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Which states are holding Legislative Council elections in October 2026?
Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra are the four states holding biennial Legislative Council elections, with polling scheduled for 23 October 2026. A total of 28 seats across Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies are up for election.
How many Legislative Council seats does Uttar Pradesh have in these elections?
Uttar Pradesh has 11 seats at stake — 5 in Graduates' constituencies and 6 in Teachers' constituencies. The sitting members of these seats are due to retire on 6 December 2026.
What are the key dates for the Legislative Council elections announced by the ECI?
The election notification will be issued on 29 September 2026. Candidates can file nominations by 6 October and withdraw by 9 October. Polling is on 23 October (8 AM–4 PM) and results will be declared on 27 October 2026.
What is a Graduates' or Teachers' constituency in a Legislative Council?
In states with Legislative Councils, Graduates' and Teachers' constituencies are special segments where only registered graduates or teachers in a defined region can vote, electing representatives to the upper house of the state legislature. These polls use a preferential voting system.
Were Rajya Sabha elections also announced on 22 September 2026?
Yes, the ECI simultaneously announced biennial elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats across Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal, where vacancies arise in November 2026 due to the retirement of sitting members.
