Just before the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the BSP has suffered a major setback. 6 BSP MLAs have joined Samajwadi Party. A BJP MLA has also joined the Samajwadi Party. Bahujan Samaj Party's Aslam Raini, Aslam Ali Chaudhary, Mujtaba Siddiqui, Hakim Lal Bind, Hargovind Bhargava, Sushma Patel have joined the SP, while Rakesh Rathore of BJP, gained the membership of the SP.