The political temperature of UP is high regarding the by-election to be held on Milkipur assembly seat of Ayodhya. Meanwhile, a state official has asked for VRS. There is talk that he is seeking ticket from BJP for the by-election. Actually, Deputy Transport Commissioner Surendra Kumar Rawat, who is claiming ticket from BJP in Milkipur Assembly elections, has applied for VRS.
Surendra Rawat’s retirement is on March 31 this year, but before that the Deputy Transport Commissioner has sent the application for voluntary retirement to the government. It is believed that in search of a new face for Milkipur reserved seat, BJP may also make Surendra Rawat a candidate. Baba Gorakhnath and Surendra Rawat are considered to be strong contenders from Milkipur reserved seat, which is why Rawat has applied for VRS two and a half months before retirement.
Although Surendra Rawat in his letter sent to the government has cited family reasons as the reason, but it is discussed that the real reason is electoral. Surendra Rawat can be the face of a new and bigger vote bank for BJP on the basis of caste equation in Milkipur seat. The process of nomination for the elections to be held in Milkipur on 5th February has started. In such a situation, if the government does not take a decision on Surendra Rawat’s application soon, then there may be a pause before his political innings starts.
Gorakhnath Baba is the strongest contender in the race for the Milkipur seat. Gorakhnath, who was MLA from Milkipur in 2017, lost to SP candidate Awadhesh Prasad by 13,000 votes in the 2022 assembly elections. In such a situation, Gorakhnath Baba’s political hold in the area and caste based factionalism strengthen his claim. But BJP has always been known for new experiments and new faces. In such a situation, BJP can also experiment by betting on new faces on Milkipur seat.
Among the new faces, the name of former bureaucrat Surendra Rawat, former Deputy Transport Commissioner, is in discussion. Among the new faces from the party’s organization, State Scheduled Morcha Treasurer Chandrakesh Rawat as well as former MLA Ramu Priyadarshi are also in the news. This time the mathematics of votes has also changed in Milkipur elections. Where Congress and BSP were in the fray in the 2022 assembly elections. This time both these parties are out of the fight. In the 2022 elections, Congress and BSP together got 17.5 thousand votes and BJP lost by 12,913 votes. In such a situation, both BJP and Samajwadi Party are eyeing the vote bank of Congress and BSP. Both are busy in winning this vote bank to their side.
