Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday expelled his MLA Pooja Pal from the Samajwadi Party just hours after she heaped praises on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for delivering justice to the culprits behind the murder of her husband Raju Pal.
An official signed by Akhilesh, the chief of the Samajwadi Party, said Pal has been found indulging in anti-party activities in the past and did not refrain despite an intimation, which led to great damage to the party and she has been expelled.
Why did Akhilesh Yadav expel Pooja Pal from SP?
The development comes after Pal praised Yogi Adityanath for improving law and order in the state and thanked him for delivering justice to women like her by eliminating criminals such as Atiq Ahmed. Pooja is the widow of Raju Pal, former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MLA, who was shot dead in Allahabad in 2005.
“Everyone knows who murdered my husband. I want to thank the Chief Minister for giving me justice and hearing me when no one else did. The CM has given justice to many women in Prayagraj through policies like zero tolerance, which led to the elimination of criminals like Atiq Ahmed," she said.
“Today, the entire state looks to the CM with trust. My husband’s killer, Atiq Ahmed, was brought to justice by the Chief Minister. I raised my voice when I saw no one was willing to take on criminals like him. When I began to lose strength in this fight, CM Yogi Adityanath gave me justice,” she added.
Who was Raju Pal?
Raju, a BSP MLA, lost the Allahabad West Assembly seat in the 2002 UP elections but went on to defeat Ashraf in the subsequent by-poll after the seat was vacated. Police suspect that his murder was the result of political rivalry. Gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother were convicted by a UP court for the murder.
Atiq and his brother Ashraf were killed in April 2023 while in police custody. They had been taken to Colvin Hospital in Prayagraj for a medical examination when three unidentified assailants, posing as journalists, opened fire while the two were speaking to the media.
Atiq was shot in the head, and the attackers fired around 20 bullets, killing both brothers on the spot. The incident occurred on the same day that Atiq’s son Asad, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was shot dead by police in an encounter in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh.
