New Delhi, Jan 14 (IANS): The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday unveiled its candidate for Milkipur by-Assembly elections, who will lock horns with Samajwadi Party (SP) MP Awadesh Prasad’s son Ajit Prasad for the high-stakes poll battle in the state. BJP has named Chandrabhan Paswan as its candidate for Milkipur bypolls. A lawyer by profession, he was among the frontrunners for BJP’s candidature from the seat. His fielding from the constituency settles all speculations and also sets the stage for a high-voltage clash with the SP nominee. Milkipur is being seen as another prestige battle between the ruling BJP and Opposition SP, particularly in the wake of by-elections in nine Assembly seats in November 2024, which saw a poll blitzkrieg between the two parties. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has already conveyed its decision to not throw its hat in the ring and with Congress not posing any challenge, the fight is set to be a direct clash between Yogi Adityanath’s BJP and Akhilesh Yadav’s SP. The latter would be eager to avenge the bypolls defeat while the BJP would look to use this as another opportunity to cement its grip. Notably, the Milkipur Assembly seat fell vacant after the resignation of Awadhesh Prasad, who got elected as Lok Sabha MP in the 2024 elections. After securing victory in the parliamentary polls, Prasad resigned from the Milkipur Assembly seat, necessitating a by-election in the seat. The Milkipur bypolls also assume significance because SP’s Awadesh Prasad defeated BJP’s Lallu Singh in Ayodhya (Faizabad) Lok Sabha seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The poll loss had sent alarm bells ringing in the BJP circles as the elections were held soon after the opening of the grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya, with wide belief that the BJP was headed for a clean sweep in the land of Lord Ram. Polling is slated for February 5 while results will be announced on February 8, along with Delhi Assembly election results. In the days to come, the Assembly seat in Ayodhya will see fierce campaigning by both BJP and SP leaders as the two parties will go whole hog to outsmart each other and settle the ‘Ayodhya battle’.