Chief minister Yogi Adityanath is leading from the front as the Bharatiya Janata Party aims to wrest the Milkipur assembly seat from the Samajwadi Party and avenge the shock defeat in the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in June 2024.
Along with the chief minister, senior BJP leaders have hit the ground running in the reserved assembly constituency located in Ayodhya district. The by-election date is expected to be announced soon.
Adityanath, whose latest visit to Milkipur was on January 4, looked to boost the morale of party workers as he said: “If Kundarki could be won, Milkipur can also be wrested. Despite 65% Muslim population in Kundarki, the BJP won the by-election with record votes in the name of development.”
The Milkipur seat had fallen vacant following the then SP MLA Awadhesh Prasad’s election to the Lok Sabha from Faizabad in June this year. Milkipur is an assembly segment of the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency.
Four senior ministers in the Yogi Adityanath government, including Surya Pratap Shahi, have been toiling in Milkipur soon after the Lok Sabha polls r to ensure party’s victory.
“The BJP leadership is trying to convey the message to the locals of Milkipur that the party’s candidate is insignificant and chief minister Yogi Adityanath is himself the ‘guarantee’ of change in this constituency,” said a senior BJP leader.
{{/usCountry}}“The BJP leadership is trying to convey the message to the locals of Milkipur that the party’s candidate is insignificant and chief minister Yogi Adityanath is himself the ‘guarantee’ of change in this constituency,” said a senior BJP leader.
{{/usCountry}}Milkipur has been a Samajwadi Party stronghold with BJP winning the seat only twice in 1991 and 2017.
Mathura Prasad Tewari won the Milkipur seat for the BJP in 1991 and Baba Gorakhnath bagged it in 2017. Gorakhnath lost to Awadhesh Prasad in 2022.
According to BJP sources, around 24 probables are seeking the party ticket from Milkipur. The BJP is yet to announce its candidate.
Leaving nothing to chance, the SP has given the ticket to Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasad’s son Ajeet Prasad. Ram Gopal Kori is the BSP candidate.
Awadesh Prasad defeated two-time sitting BJP MP Lallu Singh by a margin of 54,567 votes to win the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 election. Prasad bagged 554,289 votes and Singh 499,722 votes.
ONCE DOMINATED BY CPI
Milkipur is among the few seats in the state that have seen the dominance of the Communist Party of India (CPI) whose candidate Mitrasen Yadav won the seat four times in 1977, 1980, 1985 and 1993. He won the seat for the fifth time in 1996 as the Samajwadi Party candidate. After the CPI, it is the Samajwadi Party which has registered victory four times in Milkipur in 1996, 2002, 2012 and 2022. The Congress won the seat twice in 1974 and 1989 and the BSP once in 2007.
The Milkipur assembly has also been the dominance of the father -son duo of Mitrasen Yadav and Anand Sen. Mitrasen has won the seat five times, including three times in a row in 1977, 1980 and 1985, besides 1993 and 1996. Anand Sen won the seat twice in a row in 2002 as Samajwadi Party candidate and in 2007 on the BSP ticket.
CASTE COMBINATION (Faizabad Lok Sabha seat)
Dalits 26%, Muslims 14%, Kurmis 12%, Yadavs 12%, Brahmins 12% , Rajputs 6%, Vaish 4%, Kewats/Mallahs/Nishads 5%, Other OBCs 12%.
Milkipur is an assembly segment of the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat.