Ajay Rai extends support to SP for Milkipur Assembly bypolls

Speaking to ANI, Ajay Rai said, "In Milkipur, we will extend full support to our ally Samajwadi Party's candidate."

Meanwhile, Ayoodya Mayor Girish Pati Tripathi highlighted that the bypolls provide the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with an opportunity to "right the wrongs" of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Ayodhya.

"We were waiting for the Milkipur bypolls. It is an opportunity to right the wrongs of Lok Sabha polls in Ayodhya. The people are also waiting to support the BJP and send the correct message through Milkipur bypolls," Tripathi said.

Tripathi also emphasized that the BJP's agenda for the bypolls would focus on the development and employment opportunities in Ayodhya.

"The agenda for the election will be development and employment opportunities of Ayodhya. The opposition only worked for their families and did nothing for Milkipur. So this time, the people will answer," he added.

The election on the Milkipur seat was necessitated after the resignation of Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad, who left the seat to fight Lok Sabha Election from Faizabad Lok Sabha Constituency. He notably defeated BJP's Lallu Singh, adding to the setback NDA suffered in Uttar Pradesh.

The INDIA alliance won 43 seats with SP spearheading 37 seats, while the NDA alliance was kept on hold at 36 seats out of the 80 seats.

However, BJP saw a resurgence in assembly bypolls where they won six seats and its ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RJD) won one seat, while the Samajwadi Party only managed to win two seats out of nine contested.

As per the Election Commission of India (ECI), Milkipur will be voting on February 5 and the result will be announced on February 8.

The last date for filing the nominations is January 17, while the date of scrutiny of nomination is January 18.

The last date for the withdrawal of candidatures is January 20. (ANI)