Lucknow: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the Milkipur by-election, defeating the Samajwadi Party (SP) in what had become a high-stakes battle of prestige, media reports said.

When results were declared on Saturday, BJP candidate Chandrabhan Paswan secured a decisive win over SP’s Ajit Prasad by more than 60,000 votes after 30 rounds of counting.

Situated in the politically critical Ayodhya district, the Milkipur Assembly seat had become a battleground between the BJP and SP, with both parties fiercely contesting the bypoll, reported India Today.

Calling the result a preview of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said SP is set to lose big in the future and Mikipur result is just an indication of that, according to the report.

"Abhi jhaaki hai, poori picture abhi baaki hai." (This is just the trailer; the whole picture will be revealed in 2027 when the Samajwadi Party will be reduced to nothing.

The BJP’s push for victory came months after its loss to SP in the Faizabad Lok Sabha seat, despite the high-profile inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

The Milkipur bypoll, an assembly segment within the Faizabad constituency, became a crucial contest for the saffron party to reclaim political ground.

The by-election was necessitated after SP’s Awadhesh Prasad, who previously held the Milkipur seat, was elected to Parliament from Faizabad (Ayodhya) in 2024, defeating the BJP.

In his place, SP fielded his son, Ajit Prasad, against BJP’s Chandrabhan Paswan.

Both candidates hail from the influential Pasi community.

The announcement of the bypoll was delayed due to a legal challenge by BJP’s Baba Gorakhnath, who had contested the 2022 election from Milkipur.

He questioned the validity of Awadhesh Prasad’s nomination documents in a writ petition.

However, after Gorakhnath withdrew his case, the Election Commission of India (ECI) scheduled the bypoll for February 5.