NEW DELHI: Milkipur is set to witness a fierce contest between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party-led I.N.D.I.A bloc, as both of them have begun their campaigns in the Assembly seat in Ayodhya district, Uttar Pradesh. The by-election, scheduled to take place in a few months, may coincide with the Maharashtra and Jharkhand Assembly elections. A senior Samajwadi Party leader said that they are confident of winning the Milkipur and Katehari Assembly seats, just as they won the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency.
Both SP and BJP have already announced their poll in-charges for the by-elections in the respective seats. With this in mind, both parties have kicked off their election campaigns, each keeping a close eye on the developments.
After losing the Faizabad parliamentary constituency to SP, BJP is determined not to lose the Milkipur Assembly seat. To ensure victory, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has personally taken charge of both the Milkipur and Katehari Assembly seats. The chief minister has already visited the Assembly twice and is directly overseeing the preparations. This has become crucial for him to demonstrate his political influence and popularity, not only to his opposition but also to members of his own party who believe he may have lost the people’s mandate.
To further strengthen BJP’s position in Ayodhya, Yogi Adityanath has intensified the election groundwork by deploying a team of four ministers. This team is led by senior cabinet minister Surya Pratap Shahi, a Bhumihar, and includes Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh, a Thakur, Girish Yadav, an OBC, and Satish Chandra Sharma, a Brahmin. This strategic move is viewed as a serious effort by Yogi and the BJP to consolidate support from the upper castes and the Yadav community—the latter being traditional voters of the SP—in order to bolster their electoral prospects.
A local BJP leader said, “We have initiated our preparations and are working at the grassroots level to counter the various misleading narratives propagated by the opposition.”
However, SP remains confident after their strong performance in the Lok Sabha elections and believes they can achieve similar success in the upcoming by-polls. I.P. Singh, the national spokesperson of SP, said that the party is certain it will win the majority of the seats, including the Milkipur seat in Ayodhya. He noted that the chief minister’s decision to take direct control of the campaign shows the BJP’s panic, which will only deepen once SP wins the assembly seat, just as they took the Faizabad constituency from them. He added that the people of Milkipur have faith in SP and are frustrated with the BJP, vowing to teach them a lesson by not voting for them.
He further emphasised that the way SP leaders have highlighted Uttar Pradesh’s issues in Parliament has given hope to the people of these Assemblies, and they will continue to raise the people’s voices in the UP Assembly as well.
He urged the Election Commission to ensure a free and fair election, given that BJP controls everything in the state. Regarding seat-sharing, he mentioned that SP will contest most of the seats, with the final decisions on ticket distribution being made by party chief Akhilesh Yadav.
Aditya Rathi, a political analyst who closely follows Uttar Pradesh politics, said that the by-election in Milkipur has become particularly intriguing. The seat is considered a stronghold for the Samajwadi Party due to its significant Dalit population, including Kori, Jatav, and Dhobi communities. On the other hand, the BJP is determined to win the seat, especially after losing Faizabad—an important Hindutva stronghold following the Ram Temple consecration ceremony earlier this year—in the Lok Sabha elections. With the chief minister personally overseeing the campaign in Milkipur, the by-election has become even more compelling.