00:00Once again, on our political face-off this evening, we're going to reflect on the MLC elections that took place.
00:0628 MLC seats, four states, and a mixed verdict for all political players.
00:11The Congress has been reduced to just one victory, handing the BJP ammunition over its ballot paper demand.
00:19But the BJP, too, has clear reasons to worry.
00:22With the Congress breaching its Nagpur stronghold and the Samajwadi Party making gains in Uttar Pradesh
00:28to even losing a 30-year-old seat in Patna to the RJD.
00:33Here's the full report.
00:3828 MLC seats, four states, and a reality check for the big political players.
00:43The verdict? A mixed bag with political implications far beyond the legislative councils.
00:50For the Congress, the numbers tell a brutal story.
00:53Only one victory across 28 states.
00:57In Karnataka, the BJP-JDS alliance swept all four seats, leaving the Congress empty-handed in a state it governs.
01:06In Bihar, the party failed to win a single seat as the NDA, RJD, Jan Swaraj and Independents made their
01:14presence felt.
01:14And the BJP wasted no time turning the results into ammunition.
01:20They have won zero in Karnataka, zero in country with ballot papers.
01:25At least Mr. Rahul Gandhi should now understand, instead of finding the some other reason and making somebody as the
01:33responsible for his defeat and his party defeat,
01:36he should try to introspect.
01:54The message was unmistakable.
02:04If ballot papers are the Congress' answer to alleged EVM manipulation, what explains this performance?
02:11But Congress President Malik Arjun Kharge is refusing to back down.
02:15Ballot papers, still we ask, it doesn't mean that we should leave because they are winning.
02:22There are people to support and that ego should not be there in BJP that they have done very well.
02:32If that is the case, let them dissolve the parliament and go on ballot paper.
02:41And then came the one result the Congress could celebrate, Nagpur.
02:46Congress's Abhijit Vanjari has retained the Nagpur graduates seat for a second consecutive term, defeating the BJP on its turf.
03:16Nagpur is Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis's home city and where the RS's headquarters are located.
03:23Union Minister Nitin Gadkari represented this very seat for 24 years.
03:28But if Nagpur gave the Congress a reason to smile, Uttar Pradesh gave the BJP reason to worry.
03:35Ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections, the BJP may have retained its overall lead, but the Samajwadi Party has made
03:43significant gains.
03:45In Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, the SP, has retained both seats.
03:51The party has wrested the Lucknow graduates seat from the BJP and won the Agra teacher's seat previously held by
03:59a pro-BJP independent.
04:01For Akhilesh, a boost ahead of 2027.
04:05For the BJP, a warning that its strongholds are no longer impregnable.
04:34These polls may not change governments, but they have changed the political conversation
04:39and given the political parties something to think about.
04:43Bureau Report, India Today
