Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav with party candidate Ajit Prasad during a roadshow for the Milkipur Assembly constituency by-elections, in Milkipur
Ravi Pasi, a Samajwadi Party (SP) worker from Mau, is focused on at least six daily nukkad (street-corner) meetings in Ayodhya district’s Milkipur constituency, where a bypoll is scheduled for February 5.
“This is a prestige battle. I have attended over 40 such meetings, along with door-to-door campaigns, in the past seven days. If we win big, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s game for 2027 is over,” he said anticipating success.
Mr. Pasi is among hundreds of SP workers campaigning for this high-stakes bypoll, which became necessary after sitting SP MLA Awadhesh Prasad pulled off a surprise victory from Faizabad in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.
The Faizabad constituency includes Ayodhya district, home to the newly built Ram Temple. Mr. Prasad’s son Ajeet Prasad is now the SP candidate for the seat, while the BJP has given ticket to Chandrabhan Paswan, a party worker. Both are from the Pasi caste.
Milkipur, a constituency reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, has been a tough electoral landscape for the BJP, where it has only won once in the past 33 years.
During the campaign, the constituency has seen an influx of large numbers of leaders and workers from both major political formations in the State, the SP and the BJP. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has visited the seat five times over the past month.
The campaign has seen competing narratives: the SP’s Pichhda, Dalits and Alpsankhyak (PDA) pitch (which stands for Backward Classes, Dalits, and minorities) against the Hindutva cry of the BJP. “The BJP is fluttering like a burnt cartridge. You all are my family, be aware of the BJP, they are doing everything possible to steal your rights,” the Faizabad MP said at a meeting in Baswar Buzurg village.
The SP’s leaders and workers are highlighting alleged discrimination against the backward classes, Dalits, and minorities in the administration, with various charts. “PDA is united behind us (the SP). The atrocities, crime and negligence happening with this marginalised section is the core issue in Milkipur. Voters are chanting that the Ayodhya Lok Sabha result was only a glimpse, the real picture is Milkipur,” said Praveen Kumar Saroj, an SP worker from Jaunpur, who has been stationed in the constituency for over two weeks.
The SP’s strategy is door-to-door outreach along with Nukkad Sabhas. The party is also crying foul, alleging that the State administration is helping the ruling party.
For the residents of Milkipur, a dusty town located 30-odd km from Ayodhya, this frenetic activity is new. “We haven’t seen such a movement of convoys in previous elections. Ministers, MLAs and MLCs are sitting in tea shops seeking support, but voters are completely silent. They are assuring both groups, but knowing everyone makes promises only,” said Sailendra, a resident of Baswar Buzurg village.
Milkipur’s voters are busy struggling with their own local issues and facing rural distress.
“I don’t have time to think about election, my son is working at a factory in Ghaziabad and suffering from typhoid,” said Pushkar Singh, another farmer from Baswar Buzurg village.
The BJP campaign in Milkipur is focused on the numerically dominant SC community, projecting the SP as an ‘anti-Dalit’ party. In their speeches and door-to-door outreach, party leaders have been claiming that the SP has always insulted Dalit icon Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and given support to the criminal elements who commit atrocities against Dalits. On at least three occasions in the Milkipur campaign, Mr. Adityanath has referred to Moeed Khan, an SP worker who was booked for raping a Dalit girl.
“We will get huge support from SCs, OBCs and all other sections of the society. People are unhappy with the SP because there has been no development under Opposition leaders,” said Kunal Pandey, a BJP worker.
Published – February 03, 2025 03:30 am IST
