A friend of mine has decided to contest MLC elections from Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. He is my classmate from IITB and then went to a different IIM. It was very heartening to see him do this. He believes he has a good chance of being elected to the Vidhan Parishan, the upper house, in UP. I wish him all the best.
More about MLC, Vidhan Parishad and the process on the following links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vidhan_Parishad
http://legislativebodiesinindia.nic.in/States/UttarPradesh/upcouncil-w.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uttar_Pradesh_Vidhan_Parishad