Milkipur by-election: Who is Chandrabhan Paswan, man tasked with avenging BJP's Ayodhya loss?

The BJP has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan as its candidate for the Milkipur Assembly by-election. (Image: Facebook)

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday declared Chandrabhan Paswan as its candidate from the Milkipur constituency, part of the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency that the party lost to the Samajwadi Party in the general elections last year.

Located near Ayodhya, the Milkipur Assembly seat will go to polls on February 5 along with the Assembly elections in Delhi. The results will also be declared along with that of the Delhi polls on February 8.

The Milkipur bypoll is being seen as a key contest between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party after the former's below par performance in the Lok Sabha elections in the state. The Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, which includes the Ayodhya Assembly constituency -- the land of Lord Ram -- went to the Samajwadi Party's Awadhesh Prasad causing much embarrassment to the saffron party.

The SP has fielded Ajit Prasad, the son of sitting MP Awadhesh Prasad, from the constituency. Awadhesh was the MLA from the seat before being elected as the Lok Sabha MP from the seat. The Milkipur seat fell vacant after Awadhesh's elevation to the Lok Sabha.

Who is Chandrabhan Paswan?

The BJP, on the other hand, has chosen to go into the elections with Chandrabhan Paswan who will face his first electoral battle in the high-profile constituency. His name was among three proposed by the district unit for consideration other than former legislators Baba Gorakhnath and Ramu Priyadarshi.

A lawyer by profession, Chandrabhan beongs to a family of businessmen and hails from the Parsauli village in Ayodhya. He is believed to have sought a ticket to contest the election in the polls in 2022 as well.

He also previosly served as a Zila Panchayat member from Rudauli and is considered close to former BJP MP from Faizabad Lallu Singh, who was defeated by Awadhesh Prasad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Caste arithmetic behind BJP's choice

Chandrabhan's candidature is also a strategic move by the BJP keeping the caste demographic in the constituency in mind. Widely known as a committed 'karyakarta' in local BJP circles, Chandrabhan trumped over the other contenders based on an internal survey and the sizable presence of Pasi voters.

There are almost 1.2 lakh voters from the Scheduled Castes in Milkipur, including 70,000 Pasi voters, while the remainder are Jatavs and from other communities. Pasis are the second-largest Dalit group in the constituency after Jatavs and moved towards the BJP as Mayawati's BSP lost influence. After the Faizabad defeat, the BJP has also made special outreach to the Pasis.

Interestingly, SP candidate Ajit is also a member of the Pasi community which leaves the outcome partly dependent on the upper caste vote where the BJP sees a better chance. While the Pasi vote is likely to determine the outcome, the polls will see a concerted push by both sides to shore up support from upper caste voters rather than Dalits and OBCs.

Of the 3.7 lakh voters in Milkipur, Brahmins and Yadavs account for 60,000 voters each while the Thakurs and Muslims make up for 32,000 voters each. The Pasis constitute 70,000 votes while Jatavs and other communities make up for the rest.

The Milkipur bypoll, which was earlier scheduled to be held last November, was delayed over a petition filed by former MLA Baba Gorakhnath in 2022 over alleged irregularities in the previous Assembly elections. The election is being seen as a prestige battle for the BJP, particularly Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, after the party's Lok Sabha debacle that saw it reduced to 33 seats against the SP's 37.