Milkipur bypoll to send strong message for future of UP politics: Akhilesh
SP chief urged people to vote in favour of party candidate Ajeet Prasad on February 5, accused the UP govt of underreporting of casualties in the stampede at Mahakumbh on Mauni Amavasya.
LUCKNOW Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said the Milkipur bypoll is a direct contest between “people and administration”, which would send a strong message for the future of Uttar Pradesh politics.

Addressing a rally in Milkipur on the last day of campaigning for the bypolls, he urged people to vote in favour of party candidate Ajeet Prasad on February 5. He also accused the UP government of mismanagement and underreporting of casualties in the stampede that took place at Mahakumbh on Mauni Amavasya.
“The government was giving hourly figures of people bathing at the Mahakumbh, but it was not able to tell the number of people who lost their lives in the stampede,” he said.
“The Milkipur election is a challenge as it is being fought by the public against the government. This poll will send a message about the direction of politics. The people of Milkipur are with the Samajwadis. That is why the BJP did not allow the Milkipur poll to be held along with the by-elections to nine seats. The people of Ayodhya have put an end to the communal politics of the BJP. The Mahakumbh of Samajwadis in Milkipur will put an end to the communal politics of the BJP,” said the SP chief.
Yadav also alleged that officials are being changed to influence the bypoll. “PDA officials have been removed from Ayodhya...they are trying to stop socialists from casting their votes,” he said.
“The BJP wants to change the Constitution. It is the protective shield of the PDA...the Constitution protected the PDA. Now the PDA will protect the Constitution,” he added.
SP general secretary and MP Awadhesh Prasad also addressed the public, saying that the Constitution and democracy are in danger. “People of Milkipur will not tolerate injustice and atrocities of BJP. There are no medicines in hospitals, there are no doctors...development work is stalled. The BJP government wants to loot polling booths in Milkipur. The Election Commission should take cognizance of this,” he said.
Samajwadi Party’s state president Shyam Lal Pal gave a memorandum to the chief electoral officer of UP, urging the Election Commission of India to take action to ensure that the Milkipur bypoll is conducted in a transparent, independent and fair manner.
“There should be no interference of police personnel on the day of voting. Presiding officers should be provided with slips in sufficient quantity so that no voter is deprived of voting,” he stated in the memorandum.
BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “The allegations by the SP chief show that he has accepted defeat and sensed that his party won’t be able to win Milkipur. In the previous bypolls, the BJP won seven out of nine seats, including Kundarki seat of Moradabad, which has shaken the confidence of the SP.”
