The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) received a major boost in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh on Saturday when it won legislative council elections in three seats.

BJP candidates won the Graduate constituencies of Kanpur, Gorakhpur-Faizabad and Bareilly-Moradabad, of elections held to five seats.

Unlike the other elections, to vote as part of the Graduate Constituency, apart from being a citizen of India and a resident in the constituency, the main requirement is that the person must have a Graduate degree from a recognized Indian University, or an equivalent qualification.

BJP's Arun Pathak defeated his nearest Samajwadi Party (SP) rival in the Kanpur graduate constituency by 9,000 votes.

In the Gorakhpur-Faizabad graduate constituency, BJP's Devendra Pratap Singh defeated his nearest Secondary Education Federation Sharma Group's Sanjayan Tripathi.

In the Bareilly-Moradabad MLC graduate seat, BJP's Jaypal Singh Vyast defeat his nearest SP-supported candidate Renu Mishra, while the Congress candidate Kumud Gangwar stood third.