Mathura (UP), Jul 26 (PTI) The Bahujan Samaj Party has a "dubious character" as people have rejected the party several times during elections, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said on Monday.

“People have rejected the BSP in 2012, 2014 and 2017 since it has lost its reliability," Maurya said while talking to reporters here.

He was commenting on the Samajwadi Party and BSP's attempts to woo Brahmins ahead of UP Assembly elections early next year.

There is no substitute to 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', he said, as welfare of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and backward communities are all involved in it.

In the convention held by BSP recently in Ayodhya, senior BSP leader Satish Mishra had spoken highly of the community and also expressed the BSP's commitment to get a Ram temple constructed in Ayodhya upon coming to power in the state.

Deputy CM Maurya said, “I have requested Bankey Bihari Ji Maharaj to bestow more seats to BJP in the forthcoming Vidhan Sabha elections of UP slated for 2022 than what we got in 2017. This will pave the way for the party to rule in the state for a long time."

In the 2017 polls, BJP had won in 325 seats, the minister stated.

When asked to elaborate on the main plank that the party will be fighting on in the upcoming elections, the Deputy CM said the BJP has "several issues but the opposition was drifting away from these issues."

“There is no dearth of leaders in BJP," Maurya said when asked on who would lead the party during the elections.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)