Akhilesh Yadav’s discovery of religion precedes the Milkipur Bypoll, which will take place on February 5 followed by results declared on February 8, the same day former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal says he will return to rule Delhi and become Delhi Chief Minister, again.

Akhilesh Yadav and Arvind Kejriwal are the 'Boss' of each their party. And both run the respective parties like to the party born. The Samajwadi Party will crumble and fold without the 'Yadav family' at the helm. And the Aam Aadmi Party will only exist only as long as Arvind Kejriwal, who also discovered the advantages of courting the 'Hindu vote-bank' only recently, calls the shots.

That said, Akhilesh Yadav is cagey—not entirely sure whether he is on the right path or not. But, for this once, for winning Milkipur, a subtle shift to the Hindu vote-bank would be to the Samajwadi Party's advantage. Yadav's equations with the Muslim vote-bank, which is the Samajwadi Party's mainstay, is a very important cog to win elections.

But for the 'alpsankyak' in the 'PDA', Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav wouldn't have become Uttar Pradesh chief minister; neither of them. Without the Muslim vote-bank, Akhilesh Yadav can kiss goodbye to becoming Chief Minister in 2027. But this one-time, in Milkipur, making way to the 'Hindu vote-bank' wouldn't be a lost cause.

The current rage in Uttar Pradesh is 'Hindu' and 'Sanatan' and combined with 'Maha-kumbh' and 'Sambhal', politics in Uttar Pradesh revolves around Hindu votes. Especially, electoral politics has come to be directed and shaped by the 'Hindu vote-bank' — as witnessed in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The Hindu vote-bank of the Bharatiya Janata Party has swept away everything in front of it. The much vaunted 'Muslim vote-bank' of so-called secular political parties stood no chance against the sprawling Hindu vote-bank. Simple math proves this emphatically but the set mindset of decades refuses to believe what's in front of the eyes.

Politics and the way politics plays itself out in Uttar Pradesh is changing. Akhilesh Yadav understands this. At least, for the short-term he has to change. Milkipur has only 20,000-odd Muslim voters. The largest bloc of voters is 'Passi' and the battle in Milkipur is between three 'Passi' candidates of three political parties—Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and the 'Azad Samaj Party.

Akhilesh Yadav knows that winning Milkipur isn't possible without 'Hindutva' binding the 'Hindus' together into one single vote-bank. The BJP has fielded Chandrabhan Paswan and he faces Akhilesh's favourite MP, Awadhesh Prasad's son Ajit Prasad. Awadhesh Prasad was Milkipur MLA but resigned after winning the Faizabad Lok Sabha 2024 Lok Sabha polls, a victory cherished by the Samajwadi Party.

Awadhesh Prasad has now been given the responsibility to get his son Ajit Prasad elected to the UP Assembly; which, say Samajwadi Party politicians, is piece of cake for Awadhesh Prasad, who is locally known as the 'Raja of Ayodhya' after his victory from the Faizabad Lok Sabha constituency.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sworn to avenge the BJP's loss to Awadhesh Prasad and Akhilesh Yadav has taken notice. Akhilesh's confidence in Awadhesh Prasad is touching and Awadhesh Prasad acts and behaves like he knows Akhilesh Yadav has hit the nail on the head, bang centre! The two complement each and the chemistry between the duo is unbelievable.

The Milkipur constituency is a reserved seat and has a commanding Passi population, a Dalit subset, of around 80,000. The next big population is that of Brahmin caste. Then comes the Yadav with a population of 50,000. Thakur and Muslim number around 20,000 each. All said, the total voter count of Milkipur constituency number around 3.7 lakh.

The Congress is not contesting while Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party might play a hand. The main battle is between the BJP and the Samajwadi Party. Akhilesh Yadav's 2027 prospects depend on winning Milkipur and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath might lose some of his mojo and clout if the BJP is worsted in Milkipur, especially at a time when he is at the top of his game.

For both Akhilesh Yadav and Yogi Adityanath, Milkipur is a test that neither can afford to lose. But there can be only one winner — "which of the two?" is the question. No wonder, Akhilesh Yadav has discovered 'Hinduism'. (IPA Service)