Overview

• Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said the party will contest all 11 teachers' and graduates' Legislative Council seats independently, with its tie-up with the SP confined to Assembly and Parliamentary polls.
• Four nominees were publicly named: Vikrant Vashistha for Meerut–Saharanpur Graduates, Raghuraj Singh Pal for Agra Graduates, Devmani Tiwari for Lucknow Graduates and Sanjay Priyadarshi for Varanasi Teachers.
• Congress said a fifth name would follow, while a subsequent party statement identified Arvind Singh Patel as coordinator for the Varanasi Graduates seat as a potential contender.
• The party launched a targeted enrolment drive to register five lakh graduate voters and two lakh teacher voters, with forms sent to district and city units and a Connect Centre set up in Lucknow to coordinate committees.
• The teachers' and graduates' constituency polls are slated for February next year, and the Congress move follows the Samajwadi Party releasing its own list of five candidates a day earlier.