Sat Feb 08 08:35:38 UTC 2025: **BJP Wins Milkipur Assembly By-election After Eight-Year Gap**
Ayodhya, UP: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to win the Milkipur assembly by-election, marking a significant turnaround after an eight-year absence from the seat. With 29 out of 30 rounds of counting completed, the BJP candidate, Chandrabhannu, holds a commanding lead of 60,936 votes over Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Ajit Prasad. Chandrabhannu has secured 143,558 votes compared to Ajit Prasad’s 82,592. The SP candidate even lost in his own polling booth.
Celebrations erupted at the BJP office, with party workers distributing sweets, dancing to the beat of drums, and showering each other with colored powder. In contrast, the SP candidate Ajit Prasad and his MP father, Awadhesh Prasad, remained confined to their home since morning.
Awadhesh Pandey, a former BJP spokesperson, attributed the BJP’s victory to the public’s rejection of what he termed as the SP’s disrespect towards Lord Ram. However, Awadhesh Prasad countered these claims, accusing the BJP of widespread booth capturing and unfair practices. He predicted that despite these alleged irregularities, the BJP would ultimately lose.
The by-election was necessitated by Awadhesh Prasad’s election as the MP from Ayodhya (Faizabad) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP’s win is particularly noteworthy considering their 7,000-vote loss to the SP on the same seat in the Lok Sabha polls. The by-election, originally scheduled for December, faced a brief delay due to a high court petition filed against Awadhesh Prasad, which was later withdrawn.
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