Along with the Delhi Assembly elections on 5 February 2025, a by -election is being held in Milkipur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh, whose political importance is no less than any major election. Situated about 50-60 minutes from Ayodhya, this seat is part of Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency and its election results can have far-reaching impact.
Electoral history of Milkipur
The Milkipur seat was created in 1967 and here Mitrasen Yadav, known as ‘Comrade Mitrasen’, dominated for decades. He won four times from the Communist Party (CPI) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in 1996. Since 2012, this seat has been with the Samajwadi Party, where Awadhesh Prasad won twice, but in 2017, BJP’s Baba Gorakhnath defeated him by 28,276 votes. The BJP wins this seat only when there is a strong wave – during the Ram temple movement in 1991 and the Modi wave in 2017.
BJP vs SP: 2025 war
This time the BJP has made Chandrabhanu Paswan a candidate by not giving a ticket to Baba Gorakhnath, who is a lawyer and businessman. The BJP’s strategy is to maintain Hindutva and Dalit (Pasi) vote. UP CM Yogi Adityanath himself has held six rallies and is accusing the SP of giving protection to criminals. They are trying to strengthen Hindu unity by referring to slogans and Akhilesh Yadav’s statements on the Kumbh Mela of Akhilesh Yadav again and again.
On the other hand, the SP has nominated Ajit Prasad, son of Awadhesh Prasad. The party has focused on its strong Muslim-Yadav (My) vote bank and is running a door-to-door campaign 10-12 days in rural areas. However, due to nepotism in the candidate selection, a leader named Suraj Chaudhary left the party with 500 supporters, causing some damage to the SP.
Ethnic equation and the effect of Hindutva
Milkipur has more than 3.5 lakh voters, of which the number of Dalits is 1.5 lakh. It comes from 55,000 Pasi community, which can determine the election results. Brahmins (60,000), Rajput (25,000), Vaishya (20,000) and Yadav (55,000) votes also play an important role in the election. The BJP is trying to maintain Brahmin and Dalit votes through ‘Hindu unity’, while SP is running on a strategy to maintain traditional My equation.
The effect and possibilities of the result
If the BJP wins this election, then the Hindutva agenda associated with Ayodhya and Ram temple will be further strengthened, while the SP’s victory will indicate that caste equations and regional politics are still effective. BJP’s high-voltage campaign in this by-election and direct participation of Yogi Adityanath is making it special. It remains to be seen whether the BJP will be able to maintain its victory wave in 2025, or will the SP strengthen its grip?
