Lucknow, Dec 6 (IANS): The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) suffered another major jolt when Tribhuvan Ram, a close aide of BSP chief Mayawati, and former Minister Vinod Singh have joined the BJP in Uttar Pradesh.

Vinod Singh, the son of the late Congress leader, K.N. Singh, was a Minister in the BSP government. He belongs to Sultanpur.

Ram, the engineer-turned-politician was head of the PWD during the Mayawati regime. He was also in charge of the Dalit memorials and parks that were constructed in Lucknow and Noida.

During his stint as the PWD head, the Mayawati government gave him an extension twice.

On Thursday, Ram told reporters that the BSP was fast losing its relevance because of its casteist approach.

"Dalit icon B.R. Ambedkar and BSP founder Kanshi Ram used to say that a party can help the poor and downtrodden only when it is in power. The BSP did not follow this when it was in power," he said.

Ram and Vinod Singh said that they were impressed with the pro-poor policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and Yogi Adityanath's administration in Uttar Pradesh.

In response to the development, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh said the two leaders will strengthen the party and take it forward. "We hope that they would continue to work for the poor and downtrodden," he said.