BJP, SP set for crucial battle in bypoll in UP's Hindutva heartland

The bypoll for the assembly seat was warranted after sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Awadhesh Prasad vacated it following his victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Faizabad.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath
Chief Minister Yogi AdityanathPhoto | PTI
Updated on
2 min read

LUCKNOW: The stage is set for the Milkipur assembly seat bypoll in the Faizabad parliamentary segment, a crucial battle between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP).

Polling in the reserved constituency, a part of the Hindutva heartland of Ayodhya, will be held on Wednesday with the results to be announced on February 8. Both Milikipur and Ayodhya assembly seats are part of the Faizabad LS constituency.

The bypoll for the assembly seat was warranted after sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Awadhesh Prasad vacated it following his victory in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections from Faizabad.

Prasad had drubbed BJP’s two-time MP Lallu Singh in a shocking defeat to the saffron brigade in Faizabad, which came in the backdrop of the consecration ceremony of Ram Lalla in Ram Temple by PM Narendra Modi on January 22, 2024.

The battle for Milkipur has settled for a direct contest primarily between the BJP and the SP with both parties deploying battery of senior leaders for campaigning. While BJP, keeping the caste configuration of the seat, has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan against SP’s Ajeet Prasad, son of Awdhesh Prasad.

The battle for Mikipur has become a direct contest primarily between the BJP and the SP with both parties deploying a battery of senior leaders for campaigning. Keeping to the caste configuration the BJP fielded Chandrabhan Paswan against SP’s Ajeet Prasad, son of Awdhesh Prasad.

However, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad’s Azad Samaj Party has intensified the fight by fielding Santosh Kumar Chaudhary, the SP rebel. Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already announced to keep clear of the contest.

With the BJP's prestige on the line after its defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, by winning the Milkipur seat, the party aims to reinforce its stronghold in Ayodhya, the heart of its political ideology, and counter opposition narratives on the Constitution and reservation.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who has taken charge, addressed around half a dozen public meetings, while a team of BJP ministers, MLAs, and leaders have been mobilised to secure a victory in the constituency.

The BJP is hopeful winning in Milkipur after its victory in the byelection to nine assembly seats in November, last year. The ruling party, which holds only five of the nine seats, wrested two – Katehari in Ambedkarnagar and Kundarki in Moradabad -- from SP.

The district unit chief of Ayodhya, Mithilesh Tripathi said that the BJP had held around 1000 big and small public rallies in the run-up to the bypoll, contacting every household in the constituency.

On the other, relying on its PDA formula to retain the seat, the SP has fielded Ajeet Prasad, son of Awadesh Prasad who is believed to enjoy respectable clout in Milkipur a Passi-dominated constituency.

Top SP leaders, including party chief Akhilesh Yadav and SP MP from Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat Dimple Yadav, addressed a public meeting and participated in road shows to win the support of voters.

According to political observers, Dalit and Brahmin votes will be the deciding factor in the bypoll. In the absence of BSP, both the BJP and SP are trying to woo Dalit voters. In 2022 assembly election, a large chunk of Brahmin votes went to SP. But BJP leaders of the Brahmin community campaigned in Brahmin-dominated villages to win support for the bypoll, claimed local sources.

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