2025 Milkipur by-election


On 5 February 2025 a by-election was held in Milkipur Assembly constituency. The election was won by BJP candidate Chandrabhanu Paswan who defeated Samajwadi Party candidate Ajeet Prasad by a margin of 61,710 votes. The by-election occurred due to the resignation of sitting Samajwadi Party MLA Awadhesh Prasad.

Background

In the 2022 legislative assembly elections, Awadhesh Pradesh, a Samajwadi Party candidate was elected to Mikipur defeating then MLA Baba Gorakhnath of the Bharatiya Janata Party by over 13,000 votes. Prasad had previously won from Milkipur in 2012 before losing in 2017. In 2024 Indian general election, Prasad narrowly won from Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency. The defeat was a major blow to the BJP as it had banked on the city's development in the general election. After winning, Prasad resigned from the legislative assembly. Due to delay in election case filed in High Court, the by-election to the constituency could not be held in 2024. On 7 January 2025, the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the bypoll.

Election schedule

The election schedule was announced by the Election Commission of India on 7 January 2025.
S.No.EventDateDay
1.Date for Nominations10 January 2025Friday
2.Last Date for filing Nominations17 January 2025Friday
3.Date for scrutiny of nominations18 January 2025Saturday
4.Last date for withdrawal of candidatures20 January 2025Monday
5.Date of poll5 February 2025Wednesday
6.Date of counting8 February 2025Saturday

Major Candidates

BJP declared Chandrabhanu Paswan as its candidate. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party declared Awadhesh Prasad's son Ajeet Prasad as its candidate.

Voter turnout

A voter turnout of 67.92% was recorded in the bypoll, which was almost 7.5% more than that of the previous election. This was despite the fact that most bypolls record lower voter turnout than general elections.

Results

The Bharatiya Janata Party strongly came back in the bypoll and its candidate Chandrabhanu Paswan defeated Awadhesh Prasad's son Ajeet Prasad by over 61,710 votes. This was the highest margin of victory by a candidate in the constituency. By gaining the seat from the Samajwadi Party, BJP now gained back its ground in Ayodhya district.