Milkipur bypoll: BJP's Hindutva, SP's PDA at play in Dalit contest

Seven months after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost Faizabad parliamentary seat to the Samajwadi Party, the upcoming by-poll to Milkipur (reserved) assembly constituency, which is part of the Faizabad LS seat, has become a battle of prestige for both the parties.

- Qazi Faraz Ahmad

MILKIPUR (AYODHYA):

While the SP is leaving no stone unturned in putting its Pichhda, Dalits and Alpsankhyak (PDA) formula to rigorous test and retain the seat, the BJP is playing the Hindutva card to consolidate voters across castes and wrest the seat which it last won in 2017.

For February 5 bypoll, both the SP and the BJP have fielded candidates from the Pasi community, which is dominant here.

Majority of voters on the seat are a combination of Dalit, Yadav, Brahmin and Muslim population.

The Milkipur assembly seat fell vacant when sitting SP MLA Awadhesh Prasad won the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 LS polls. His son Ajeet Prasad is now SP candidate from the seat. On the other hand, the BJP has fielded a party cadre Chandrabhan Paswan. Both are from the Pasi caste as the Milkipur reserved constituency has a sizable presence of it. Most of the voters here are Dalits, followed by Yadavs, Brahmins and Muslims.

PDA vs Hindutva

For the ruling party, the CM-led battery of ministers is visiting Milkipur without fail, convincing people there that the SP is anti-Hindu and that it was due to the efforts of the BJP that a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya became a reality.