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The Milkipur by-election, political analysts say, is no less than a prestige battle for the BJP, especially after it lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat to the Samajwadi Party in the April-June general elections. The Election Commission has yet to announce the poll schedule for…Read More
The BJP-led NDA won 7 out of the 9 seats in last month’s UP bypolls. (Representational image/PTI)
Riding high on its success in last month’s Uttar Pradesh by-elections, where it secured seven out of nine seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party has now set its sights on Mission Milkipur. UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has directed ministers and party functionaries to intensify poll preparations and electorate mobilisation in Ayodhya’s significant Milkipur constituency that is gearing up for bypolls. While the BJP plans to emphasise Hindu unity with slogans like “Batenge toh katenge” (If we are divided, we’ll be slaughtered), the Samajwadi Party aims to retain its stronghold with its “Picchda Dalit Alpsankhyak” (PDA) strategy.
The Milkipur by-election, political analysts say, is no less than a prestige battle for the BJP, especially after it lost the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat to the Samajwadi Party in the April-June general elections. The saffron party is eyeing this Dalit-dominated assembly seat to avenge its defeat. And it is the main reason why the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government is in no mood to take any chances. Party sources say that Mission Milkipur was the second most discussed issue after the 2025 Mahakumbh in the meeting of the council of ministers held recently at the UP CM’s residence.
Kundarki formula
“Yogiji has directed party functionaries to camp in Milkipur, stay connected with the people, and make the masses aware of schemes and development work carried out by the BJP government,” a senior party leader said.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath told his ministers to apply the “Kundarki formula”, where people from all sections of society supported the BJP in the byelections, helping the party win the seat after a gap of 31 years. “The ministers were told to reach out to all sections of the society, as the party did in Kundarki, and make sure that they get support from the people from all the communities, irrespective of caste and religion,” the senior leader said.
The BJP managed a decisive victory in the Muslim-dominated Kundarki seat in Moradabad, traditionally an SP stronghold. BJP’s Ramveer Thakur won by a margin of over 1.4 lakh, defeating his closest rival, three-time MLA and SP candidate Haji Rizwan, whose bail amount was confiscated. Ramveer secured 1,44,791 votes, while Rizwan got a mere 25,580 votes. Singh, being the only Hindu candidate from the Muslim-dominated seat, created history.
UP’s political observers said a split in Muslim votes was the main reason behind the BJP’s win. “BJP’s Ramveer Thakur was the lone Hindu candidate from Kundarki, while others, including the SP, all fielded Muslims. The data from the Election Commission of India clearly indicates a split in Muslim votes, which led to the BJP’s victory and the downfall of the SP candidate. SP’s Mohammad Rizwan got 25,580 votes, Azad Samaj Party’s Chand Babu got 14,201 votes, Bahujan Samaj Party’s Rafatulla got 1,099 votes, while there were seven other independent Muslim candidates,” said Shashikant Pandey, political observer and head of the department of political science, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow.
Date to be announced
A bypoll is due in Milkipur, which falls in Ayodhya on the borders of Amethi and Sultanpur, after its MLA, Awadhesh Prasad, got elected as an MP from Faizabad (Ayodhya). While announcing last month’s bypolls for 10 vacant assembly seats of UP, the Election Commission of India (ECI) skipped Milkipur following a writ petition filed by BJP candidate Baba Gorakhnath, who contested the 2022 assembly elections from the seat. Baba Gorakhnath challenged the victory of Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Awadhesh Prasad, raising concerns over the authenticity of the documents submitted during his nomination. The withdrawal of his petition paved the way for the bypolls in Milkipur. However, the Election Commission has yet to announce the poll schedule for Milkipur. While the SP has announced the candidature of Awadhesh Prasad’s son Ajit from the constituency, the BJP is yet to announce any candidate from Milkipur. The seat has around 3.5 lakh voters, of which over one lakh are Dalits, while more than 80,000 are Yadavs and Muslims. Brahmins and Thakurs account for around 1 lakh of the electorate.
Political observers acknowledge that while the BJP’s Mission Milkipur holds promise, it also faces considerable challenges. Balram Tiwari, a senior journalist and political observer from Faizabad, said that public perception in Ayodhya has shifted significantly in the last few months. Also, the above-average performance of the BJP in the recent by-elections has energised the party workers, and the alleged resentment they had against the decision to field Lallu Singh from Faizabad in the Lok Sabha polls too has subsided. Tiwari said there are rumours that the BJP may field former Milkipur MLA Baba Gorakhnath, a Pasi, who narrowly lost to SP’s Awadhesh Prasad in 2022 by just over 13,000 votes. Notably, in 2017, Gorakhnath, then 32, defeated the 72-year-old Prasad by more than 26,000 votes, a victory that coincided with the BJP’s landslide win in Uttar Pradesh and Yogi Adityanath’s rise to the chief minister’s office.
Although the BJP aims to reclaim its foothold, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has fielded Awadhesh Prasad’s son, Ajit, a Pasi, turning the contest into a “Pasi vs Pasi” battle. This time, the BSP has also decided to contest the bypolls, while Chandrashekhar Azad’s ASP will field a candidate, intensifying the competition. However, a lot depends on the selection of candidates. Political observers also point out that the BSP and ASP’s presence in Milkipur, which has a significant Dalit and OBC population, could make the poll battle more critical for both the BJP and SP, who are both vying to win these voters.
