Varanasi: To prevent a repeat of the overconfidence that led to the BJP’s defeat in both the Varanasi graduate and teachers’ MLC constituencies in the last election, chief minister Yogi Adityanath will address party workers and voters during a meeting at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University on Wednesday. The party has already launched an awareness drive to familiarise voters with the dos and don’ts of ballot-based voting.An important meeting of key office-bearers and workers from all three assembly constituencies in the city was held at the BJP metropolitan office in Gulab Bagh on Monday and Tuesday in connection with the graduate and teachers’ MLC elections.Addressing Monday’s meeting, Varanasi in charge and MLC Arun Pathak said that CM Yogi would address a grand public meeting to provide direct guidance to workers and share a mantra for victory. Pathak said strategy and booth management were the keys to electoral success. This time, every panna pramukh must be activated to ensure the party’s victory at polling centres. The BJP metropolitan unit has intensified its political activities to secure victory in the upcoming graduate and teachers’ constituency elections.Pathak said voters would be educated about the correct procedure for casting their votes by marking the Roman numeral ‘1’ against the candidate’s name. They would also be advised not to carry a pen into the polling room, as one would be provided by the Election Commission.Addressing the meeting, BJP metropolitan president Pradeep Agrahari referred to the experience of previous elections and called for introspection. He said the party had learnt a strong lesson last time.. As part of the strategy, it has been decided that party workers will visit every voter at their home at least three times. He said that, in this prestigious seat of Kashi, the hard work of party workers would script a historic victory this time.At Tuesday’s meeting, BJP Kashi region president Ashok Chaurasia assigned tasks to office-bearers and workers to ensure the participation of intellectuals, especially those registered as voters in both constituencies.The meeting was also addressed by minister of state (independent charge) Ravindra Jaiswal, minister of state (independent charge) Dayashankar Mishra ‘Dayalu’, former mayor Ram Gopal Mohale, former deputy mayor Sanjay Rai, MLAs Saurabh Srivastava and Neelkanth Tiwari, former MLA Surendra Narayan Singh ‘Audhey’, and former regional vice-president Sudhir Mishra. The speakers unanimously said that the government was working with full commitment to address the issues of teachers and graduates. They urged party workers to participate energetically in the door-to-door contact campaign.Box I: Varanasi graduates’ constituencyThe Varanasi Division Graduates’ Constituency for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (MLC) represents graduates across eight districts, including Varanasi, Mirzapur, Ghazipur, Ballia, Chandauli, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra.In 2020, Samajwadi Party candidate Ashutosh Sinha won 26,535 votes, defeating BJP’s sitting MLC Kedarnath Singh by 3,850 votes. Singh finished second with 22,685 votes. Both parties have retained the same candidates for the 2026 biennial election. Besides them, 22 other candidates are in the fray, taking the total to 24.Voting is scheduled for Oct 23, from 8 am to 4 pm. A total of 2,88,614 voters will decide the fate of the candidates at 324 polling booths across the districts. Counting of votes will take place on Oct 27.Box II: Varanasi teachers’ constituencyThe Varanasi Division Teachers’ Constituency is an important seat in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council (Vidhan Parishad). It primarily represents employed teachers across schools and educational institutions in the Varanasi division.In the 2020 election, Samajwadi Party candidate Lal Bihari Yadav defeated independent candidate Pramod Kumar Mishra, who is now contesting on a BJP ticket. Yadav secured 7,766 votes, while Mishra received 6,830. The BJP-backed outgoing MLC, Chetnarayan Singh, finished third with 4,858 votes. A total of 10 candidates, including Yadav, Mishra and Singh, are in the fray.A total of 34,899 voters across the same districts will exercise their franchise at 123 polling booths.
