LUCKNOW: Milkipur byelection is set to be a battle of nerves between the ruling BJP and the main opposition Samajwadi Party (SP). The voting for the assembly byelection will take place along with Delhi Assembly election on February 5.The ruling BJP has reposed faith in Chandrabhan Paswan, a practising lawyer and a grassroot level worker of the party, to wrest the high-stake Milkipur assembly seat from SP. SP is represented by Ajeet Prasad, son of Awadhesh Prasad who vacated the Milkipur assembly seat after securing the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency during the in general elections last year.After losing Faizabad Lok Sabha seat to SP, the BJP is leaving nothing to chance in a bid to snatch SP stronghold Milkipur. Parallelly, the SP has the challenge of retaining the seat vacated by Awdhesh Prasad, the giant killer who won Ayodhya for the party.In fact, Milkipur has a significant Pasi community. Keeping the caste equations in mind and with the intent to galvanise the party cadre, the BJP announced Chandrabhan Paswan’s candidature. Paswan happens to be an ordinary party worker, who has been chosen to neutralise the Pasi factor and also the dominance of SP in Milkipur.Milkipur assembly seat is considered to be an SP stronghold as the party has won the seat six times, including twice in by-elections. It won the seat in 1996, 2002, 2012 and 2022 state assembly polls, besides 1998 and 2004 by-elections.SP candidate Ajeet Prasad, who filed his nomination on Wednesday, belongs to the Pasi community. His father Awadhesh Prasad enjoys respectable clout in the constituency.Meanwhile, as per the BJP insiders, a survey conducted by the party found that around 34 per cent of the people preferred Chandrabhan Paswan while only 14 per cent opted for Baba Gorakhnath, the BJP candidate who had won Milkipur in 2017 assembly polls but lost to Awadhesh Prasad in 2022.Baba Gorakhnath was among half a dozen probables in contention for the ticket from Milkipur.Chandrabhan Paswan, has also been a Zila Panchayat member of the BJP from Rudauli and is considered close to former BJP MP from Faizabad Lallu Singh, who was defeated by Awadhesh Prasad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.Chandrabhan’s wife is a Zila Panchayat member for two consecutive terms from Rudauli, a tehsil in Ayodhya district. Active in local politics for the past several years, Chandrabhan Paswan was also a contender for the party ticket in the 2022 assembly polls.The BJP has won the seat only twice in 1991 and 2017. For the BJP, the significance of clinching a victory in Milkipur could be gauged from the fact that CM Yogi Adityanath, the party’s leader in charge of Milkipur, has taken the onus on himself to win the seat for the party.To accomplish this goal, the BJP has deployed a battery of ministers there. After the chief minister, cabinet minister Surya Pratap Shahi is leading the BJP team in Milkipur.With the Congress and the BSP not in the fray, the Dalit voters will have to choose between the BJP and Samajwadi Party.The last date of the filing of the nomination is January 17 and the scrutiny of the nomination papers will be done on January 18. January 20 is the last date for the withdrawal of nominations. Polling is scheduled for February 5 and the votes will be counted on February 8.
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