"Public has made up mind to make Ajit Prasad win": SP MP Awadhesh Prasad on Milkipur by-poll

Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh) [India], January 22 (ANI): Samajwadi Party MP Awadhesh Prasad on Wednesday exuded confidence in his party winning the Mikipur by-polls and said that the people have completely made up their minds to make SP win and make history.
"Samajwadi Party is winning with full strength and the public has taken this election in their hands. The public has completely made up their mind to make the Samajwadi Party and Ajit Prasad win and make history. That history will be of change," Prasad told ANI.
He also claimed that the presiding officer on the seat has been a member of the BJP.
"The presiding officer there has been the vice president of BJP and councillor many times. I am collecting all the information and will send it to the Election Commission. We will also give a list of this to the High Court and we demand from the Election Commission to hold fair elections to strengthen and maintain the sanctity of democracy," the SP MP said.
The election in the Milkipur constituency was necessitated after the Samajwadi Party's (SP) Awadhesh Prasad vacated the seat after being elected to the Lok Sabha from Faizabad in the general election held last year.
The Milkipur bypoll is scheduled for February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8.
The Congress, Samajwadi Party's INDIA bloc ally, has decided not to field any candidate from Milkipur and has instead announced support for the SP candidate.
For the by-polls, the SP has fielded Awadhesh Prasad's son Ajit Prasad. Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan from the seat.
Earlier, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the by-poll would be the biggest election and demanded that the electoral process be transparent.
"In Milkipur, not any person, but PDA representative is contesting. The Milkipur by-election will be the biggest election in the history of by-elections in the country. That is why we want journalists from all over the world to come and see, understand and cover this election. We invite leading scholars of the world to do a case study of this election. We want the Uttar Pradesh government to make this by-election an example of a transparent election and invite everyone. Milkipur election is a contest between PDA and the corrupt system of BJP," he said. (ANI)