Three leaders of the Bahujan Samaj Party and an MLA from the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday joined the Samajwadi Party.

The three Bahujan Samaj Party leaders who joined the Samajwadi Party are Chillupar MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari, Kushal Tiwari and Ganesh Shankar Pandey. All three were suspended by the Bahujan Samaj Party last week after it became clear that they would join the Samajwadi Party, according to the Hindustan Times.

The BJP’s MLA from Khalilabad, Digvijay Narain Chaubey, also joined the party.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav told reporters that the Bharatiya Janata Party was staring in the face of defeat in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Deccan Herald reported. The elections are expected to be held early next year.

Yadav added that the leaders who joined the party on Sunday are very important in their respective regions.

Vinay Shankar Tiwari accused the Uttar Pradesh government of working only for a particular community, and of humiliating the Brahmin community. All four leaders who joined the Samajwadi Party are Brahmins.

Vinay Shankar Tiwari and Kushal Tiwari are the sons of Harishankar Tiwari, an influential leader from eastern Uttar Pradesh, the Hindustan Times reported. Harishankar Tiwari had been a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for 23 straight years.

On October 30, six Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs and one BJP MLA had joined the Samajwadi Party in Lucknow, The Print reported. The Bahujan Samaj Party MLAs who joined the Akhilesh Yadav-led party at the time were Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hakim Lal Bind, Sushma Patel, Aslam Chaudhary, Hargovind Bhargava and Aslam Raini.

BJP MLA from Sitapur Rakesh Rathore had also joined the party on that date.

The Samajwadi Party is fighting next year’s polls in alliance with regional outfits Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal. Yadav has also said that he was open to ally with his uncle Shivpal Yadav’s outfit Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party Lohia.