The BJP has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan as its candidate for Milkipur assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh. The seat in Faizabad (Ayodhya) is going to polls along with Delhi Election 2025 on February 5.
The bypoll was necessitated after Awadhesh Prasad, a senior Dalit leader in the Samajwadi Party (SP), resigned the Milkipur seat after being elected to Lok Sabha from Faizabad parliamentary seat in 2024 general elections. Awdesh's son Ajeet is now the SP nominee from there.
The BJP lost Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, months after the consecration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya — which also falls under the parliamentary constituency.
The SP won 37 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in June last year but its performance dipped when it could bag only two of the nine assembly seats in the November, 2024 bypolls.
The bypoll has become a prestige battle for BJP with Chief Minister Yogi Adiynath taking charge of the February 5 election day. The saffron party plans to go all out to wrest it from arch rival SP.
The Milkipur bypoll in Ayodhya district was to be held earlier along with by-elections for nine other assembly seats in November 2024. But due to a pending court case, the Election Commission deferred the Milkipur bypoll.
Awadhesh Prasad had won the seat with 47.99 per cent votes in 2022, followed by BJP’s Baba Gorakhnath with 41.83 per cent votes. Congress candidate Brijesh Kumar had got 1.46 per cent votes. Awadhesh Prasad had also won the seat in 2012 assembly election.
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