Four Bahujan Samaj Party legislators joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, after they were denied tickets to contest the upcoming 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The party confirmed the development in a statement, and said that three of the MLAs had been expelled. This comes only two days after party chief Mayawati said there could be more people leaving the party because poll tickets for about a dozen MLAs have been cancelled, reported The Indian Express.

The MLAs who joined the BJP include Harvinder Kumar alias Romi Sahani from Pallia in Kheri district, Mahavir Rana from Behat (Saharanpur), Roshanlal Verma from Tilhar (Shahjahanpur) and Om Kumar from Nehtaur (Bijnor).

The BJP chief in Uttar Pradesh, Keshav Prasad Maurya, welcomed the four politicians and said the BSP was indulging in "the politics of appeasement, which has angered BSP leaders and workers". According to him, Mayawati believes that "Dalits will support her only if they face atrocities".