Forty-one candidates have filed nominations for the Varanasi division graduates' and teachers' seats in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council, the election office said after filing closed on Tuesday, 6 October. Scrutiny of the papers takes place on Wednesday.
Of the 41, the election office counts 27 for the graduates' constituency and 14 for the teachers' constituency. Two women are in the field: Preeti Singh for the graduates' seat and Ritika Dubey for the teachers' seat.
Tuesday was the busiest day of the window. A total of 29 nomination papers were filed on the final day, in the court of the Additional Commissioner (I) at the divisional commissioner's office, where nominations have been received since filing opened on 29 September.
Several names joined the list for the first time on Tuesday. For the graduates' seat, Arvind Kumar, Ashish Kumar Tiwari and Rajkumar Dubey filed their first nominations. For the teachers' seat, papers came in from Farid Ansari and Brijesh Bharti.
The main parties' candidates also used the last day to add sets of papers. Samajwadi Party graduates' candidate Ashutosh Sinha, who had been among the first to file on 1 October, filed again, submitting two sets. BJP graduates' candidate Kedarnath Singh filed one set. Teachers' candidate Lal Bihari Yadav, the sitting SP member, filed two sets. Candidates often file more than one set so that a slip in one does not knock them out at scrutiny.
Supporters gathered outside the commissionerate during the afternoon, and police held them at the barricades under the nomination rules, allowing only candidates and permitted persons inside. There was some pushing at the barricade for a while before entry resumed.
The field has been taking shape for about a week. On the first two days, aspirants only collected forms and paid deposits, as Dalimss reported when MLC forms reached 30 over two days without a single paper filed.
That report also noted that the vacancies arise because the terms of the two sitting members, Ashutosh Sinha for the graduates and Lal Bihari Yadav for the teachers, end on 6 December. Smaller groups have since entered too, among them the teachers' body that named its own graduates' and teachers' candidates on 4 October.
Wednesday's scrutiny is where the 41 could shrink. Election officials examine each nomination for errors in the forms, the proposers, the affidavit and the deposit, and papers that fail are rejected. Candidates then have until Friday, 9 October, to withdraw. Only after that will the final list of contestants for each seat be clear.
Polling is on Friday, 23 October, from 8 am to 4 pm, and the votes will be counted on Tuesday, 27 October. These are not ordinary elections. The Legislative Council is the state's upper house, and each graduates' or teachers' seat sends one member there for a six-year term.
Only people enrolled on the graduates' or teachers' electoral rolls of the constituency can vote, and they rank candidates in order of preference on a ballot paper rather than pressing a button on a machine. That makes the counting slower than in an assembly poll, since preferences may have to be transferred before a winner is declared.
Voters will need to carry their photo voter ID card. Election rules allow a list of alternative photo documents for anyone without one, including the Aadhaar card, driving licence, PAN card and passport. Anyone unsure whether their name is on the graduates' or teachers' roll can check with the election office before polling day.
The poll date has already reshaped another event in the city. The Indian Air Force air show over the Ganga, which had a day planned for 23 October, was moved to 24 October so it would not clash with voting, as set out in our guide to the air show dates and rules. The show now runs from 24 to 26 October.
So the count for now is 41. By Friday evening, after scrutiny and withdrawals, the election office should be able to say how many names will actually be on the two ballot papers that graduates and teachers across the division receive on 23 October.
