New Delhi: The Congress failed to win any of the 28 Legislative Council seats contested in by-elections across Karnataka, Bihar, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, despite fielding candidates in 12 constituencies, including four seats it had previously held. The result marks a significant electoral setback for the party.

In Karnataka, where the Congress leads the state government, it contested all four seats but won none. The ruling party lost the one seat it previously held to the Janata Dal (Secular), while the National Democratic Alliance won all four. The polls were an early electoral test for Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Congress leader B K Hariprasad.

In Bihar, the Congress contested five of eight seats after seat-sharing talks with the Rashtriya Janata Dal collapsed. It had held one of those seats previously but failed to win any. In the Darbhanga Teachers’ constituency, formerly represented by ex-state Congress president Madan Mohan Jha, Prashant Kishor’s party won on its electoral debut.

Maharashtra delivered another blow: the Congress contested three of five seats, including two it previously held, but lost all. Sharad Pawar’s NCP (SP) won both seats it contested, while Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, which fought independently, also drew a blank. In Pune, the NCP (SP) graduates’ candidate secured over 100,000 votes, whereas the Congress teachers’ candidate received fewer than 10,000.

In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress did not field any candidate for the 11 available seats, despite asserting parity with the Samajwadi Party in seat-sharing discussions ahead of the Assembly elections.