As if desertion of several party MLAs for rival political outfits was not enough, Bahujan Samaj Party chief faces more trouble as family members of BSP founder late Kanshi Ram, have asserted they would ensure Mayawati’s electoral rout in the coming assembly polls.

“We will assist anyone who can defeat Mayawati in the forthcoming UP assembly elections,” said Kanshi Ram's younger sister and nephew while accusing the BSP chief of usurping the party for her family members.

The two were in Lucknow for a function hosted by former MLA Savitribai Phule on the occasion of Constitution Day on Friday.

"Mayawati is anti-Constitution and has finished the party which Kanshi Ram strived so hard to set up. She has turned the party into a family enterprise and can do nothing for the poor," Kanshi Ram's sister Swarn Kaur claimed before media persons in Lucknow on Friday. Executive director of Kanshi Ram Foundation, Swarn Kaur, said that her family was not affiliated with any political party.

Meanwhile, Kanshi Ram’s nephew Lakhbir Singh said that they went to Kanshi Ram Memorial in Lucknow on Thursday and were disappointed to find Mayawati's statue alongside the BSP founder's.

"She has hijacked the BSP and made it a private limited firm. In UP elections, we will support anyone who can defeat Mayawati and her candidates. We will also campaign against the BSP ahead of the Punjab assembly elections, where it is contesting elections in alliance with Akali Dal," Singh said.

The political temperature in Uttar Pradesh has been steadily rising as the country's most populous state prepares for a high-octane campaign for electing 403 members to the UP assembly in 2022.