Prestige Battle in Milkipur: SP vs BJP

The Milkipur Assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh has seen over 44% voter turnout by early afternoon. The contest is mainly between the Samajwadi Party's Ajit Prasad and the BJP's Chandrabhanu Paswan in the politically significant Ayodhya district. Allegations of voter intimidation and fake voting have marked the polling process.

The Milkipur Assembly bypoll in the politically significant Ayodhya district of Uttar Pradesh witnessed over 44% voter turnout by 1 pm on Wednesday. The polling began at 7 am and is set to continue until 5 pm as the contest intensifies between the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Samajwadi Party leaders have accused the police of intimidating voters by checking their ID cards. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav called on the Election Commission to address these allegations, labeling them as attempts to undermine democracy. However, Ayodhya's Senior Superintendent of Police Raj Karan Nayyar denied any such actions were being undertaken by law enforcement.

Tensions are heightened as SP aims to retain the seat after leader Awadhesh Prasad vacated it, propelling the BJP to see this election as a chance to regain ground lost in the Faizabad parliamentary polls. With security measures bolstered, 255 polling centers and 414 stations are in full operation for over 370,000 registered voters, including 4,811 first-time participants.