Ayodhya (UP), Jan 21 (PTI) Ten candidates are in the fray in the February 5 bypoll for the Milkipur assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya district.

The last day to withdraw nominations was Monday and now all candidates for the election are final.

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The main contest in the bypoll is expected to be between Samajwadi Party's Ajit Prasad and the BJP's Chandrabhanu Paswan.

Candidates from Chandrashekhar Azad's Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram), Moulik Adhikar Party and Rashtriya Janwadi Party (Socialist) are also in the poll fray. Five independent candidates are also contesting the bypoll.

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The Samajwadi Party would like to retain the seat, especially after delivering a blow to the BJP in the Faizabad parliamentary seat that houses Ayodhya, the home of the newly consecrated Ram mandir. The BJP, meanwhile, would like to wrest power in the seat to reverse the import of the Samajwadi Party's win in Faizabad.

The Milkipur seat fell vacant after Awadhesh Prasad, who was elected on an SP ticket in 2022, resigned after being elected an MP from Faizabad in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

In the 2022 assembly elections in Milkipur, BJP candidate Gorakhnath lost to Prasad. The BJP has won all the other assembly seats within the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency.

District electoral officer Chandra Vijay Singh said that candidates can campaign until 6 pm on February 3. Voting will be held on February 5, and counting votes on February 8.

More than 3.7 lakh voters -- 1.92 lakh men and 1.77 lakh women -- will decide the fate of the 10 candidates in the bypoll.

To ensure a free and fair by-election, 255 polling centres and 414 polling booths have been established. To prevent any disturbances at these locations, four zonal and 41 sector magistrates will be deployed.

The election process will be completed by February 10, according to UP's Additional CEO Chandra Shekhar.

Barring Milkipur, the bypolls to nine assembly seats in the state were held on November 20, 2024. The ruling BJP and its ally RLD secured seven of the nine seats and the SP grabbed the other two seats.

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