SP sacks MLA Pooja Pal for praising UP CM Yogi

Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Pooja Pal was on Thursday (August 14) expelled from the party for alleged anti-party activities. This came hours after she praised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the state Assembly.

During the ongoing Monsoon session of Uttar Pradesh Assembly, Pooja praised Adityanath for “ensuring justice” for her former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA husband Raju Pal, who was shot dead by gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed in 2005 in Prayagraj.

What SP chief Akhilesh said

In a letter issued to Uttar Pradesh legislator Pooja, the party accused her of indulging in activities against its interests despite repeated warnings.

Also read: SP MLA praises Yogi for 'justice' for slain husband

A copy of the letter, which was signed by SP president Akhilesh Yadav, was also marked to the speaker of the legislative assembly.

“She (Pooja) is no longer permitted to participate in any party programmes and will not be invited to them in the future,” Akhilesh wrote in the letter.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak termed the expulsion SP’s “anti-women approach”.

The letter said that Pooja’s actions amounted to “serious indiscipline” and that she was being removed from all party posts with immediate effect.

Pooja reacts after expulsion

Pooja, who represents Chail Assembly constituency in Kaushambi district, said she stood by her comments.

“I have been expelled only today. I stand by my statement even today. I became an MLA later but I am a victim woman first, a wife first...We could not stand the incident that occurred with us...They speak of PDA. I too belong to a backward community, I was troubled, I stepped out of my house because my husband was killed in broad day light, I was a newly-wed bride and there was nobody at my home...They have proven that they are completely against PDA (Pichde (backward classes), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities)),” Pooja told ANI.

Pathak said the expulsion of Pooja for “supporting the vision of developed India” in the House on the eve of Independence Day reflects the “ghatia soch (cheap mindset)” of the Samajwadi Party. “The entire House has unanimously accepted that the policy of the Samajwadi Party is anti-women.”

Pooja thanks CM for ‘seeing her hidden tears’

Ahmed, a former MP and multiple-time MLA from Allahabad West, was serving a life sentence in a kidnapping case when he and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three assailants while being escorted by police for a medical check-up in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023.

The killing took place in full view of the media and was broadcast live.

During a discussion on the ‘Vision 2047’ document in UP Assembly, Pooja said, “I want to thank Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for seeing my hidden tears that no one noticed for years. My grief and pain were acknowledged and justice was delivered,” she said.

“I want to thank the CM for his zero tolerance policy which ensured the end of mafia like Atiq Ahmed,” she added.