Lucknow: Of all the explanations to enter politics, hers was the strangest: Homicide. And it was BSP chief Mayawati who inspired Pooja Pal to contest after her MLA husband Raju Pal was allegedly killed by gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed simply 9 days after their wedding ceremony.

From a really poor, OBC household in Katghar space of Prayagraj district, Pooja had by no means imagined she would enter politics. Daughter of a puncture restore store proprietor, she did odd jobs whereas finding out and at last managed to graduate from Allahabad College. She even labored as a sweeper in workplaces and in a hospital to make ends meet.

After that, Pooja’s life modified fully. On Mayawati’s encouragement, she contested and received an meeting ballot, acquired expelled from the BSP, then grew to become an SP MLA, and has now been expelled once more.

Practically twenty years after first making headlines, Pooja Pal is again within the highlight, this time over her expulsion from the Samajwadi Celebration after she praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath within the legislative meeting.

On 14 August, the Samajwadi Celebration expelled its MLA from the Chail constituency in Kaushambi district, Pooja Pal, citing “anti-party actions”.The motion got here simply hours after Pooja Pal publicly praised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his “zero-tolerance coverage” towards crime. In its expulsion letter, the celebration particularly talked about her involvement in actions towards celebration pursuits.

Based on Samajwadi Celebration functionaries, in February 2024, Pal was amongst seven SP MLAs who voted for BJP candidate Sanjay Seth within the Rajya Sabha polls, going towards the celebration line. Since then, Pal was concerned in “anti-party actions”. She even campaigned for the BJP candidate throughout the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, however the celebration gave her one other likelihood. Nonetheless, after noticing no enchancment, the celebration has now determined to take motion.

Whereas speaking to ThePrint after the expulsion, Pal stated, “What mistaken did I do? I solely praised the Chief Minister’s law-and-order work and that’s a reality. I acquired justice due to Yogi-ji. Atiq and his household are my husband’s murderers. I used to be by no means aligned with Mulayam Singh Yadav, however I believed Akhilesh was a visionary chief, which is why I joined the Samajwadi Celebration in 2022. However after Atiq’s homicide, Samajwadi Celebration leaders had been elevating questions. This harm me.”

“I’ve not determined what I’ll do now however i can be with those that stood by me in my troublesome instances,” she added.

Praised Yogi’s regulation & order

Pooja Pal, whose husband, BSP MLA Raju Pal, was murdered in 2005 allegedly by associates of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, expressed deep gratitude to CM Yogi within the UP meeting throughout her speech. She credited his insurance policies for enchancment in regulation and order within the state and for delivering justice in her husband’s case.

“Everybody is aware of who murdered my husband. I need to thank the Chief Minister for bringing me justice when nobody else did. His zero-tolerance coverage led to the elimination of criminals like Atiq Ahmed. Immediately, your entire state seems on the CM with belief,” she stated. Praising Yogi additional, she remarked, “Mere pati ke hatyare Atiq Ahmed ko Mukhya Mantri ne mitti mein milaane ka kaam kiya” (“The chief minister decimated my husband’s killer, Atiq Ahmed”). She recalled that when she had despaired in her combat for justice, CM Yogi’s actions had given her hope.

How her husband’s homicide introduced her into politics

After her husband’s killing, Mayawati gave Pooja a BSP ticket to contest the by-polls necessitated by her husband’s loss of life. However Pooja misplaced. Nonetheless, within the 2007 meeting polls, she defeated Ashraf, Atiq’s brother. Mayawati herself campaigned for her in Prayagraj West constitutency. She was in Mayawati’s good books till 2018, when, after dropping to the BJP’s Siddharth Nath Singh in 2017, she went to satisfy Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. After that, Mayawati expelled her.

Pooja then joined the Samajwadi Celebration in 2019, simply earlier than the Lok Sabha polls.

As per sources near Pal, she acquired married once more to Unnao-based Brajesh Verma earlier than the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Samajwadi Celebration fielded Pal from Unnao, however she withdrew as her paperwork weren’t full. In 2022, SP once more given her a ticket and he or she received the 2022 Meeting election from Chail in Kaushambi.

In February 2023, Umesh Pal, a key witness in Raju Pal’s homicide case, was killed in Prayagraj’s Sulem Saray space. Atiq and Ashraf, the prime accused, had been later arrested however shot useless on April 15, 2023, by assailants posing as journalists throughout a go to to the hospital.

The killings proved to be a turning level for Pooja Pal. She voted towards the celebration line within the 2024 Rajya Sabha polls, triggering a rift with the Samajwadi Celebration.

In June this yr, practically 16 months after eight Samajwadi Celebration MLAs, together with Pooja Pal, rebelled throughout the Rajya Sabha elections, the celebration expelled three of them: Abhay Singh (Gosaiganj), Rakesh Pratap Singh (Gauriganj), and Manoj Pandey (Unchahar) however took no motion towards Pooja Pal on the time. It was stated that Pal was a part of the SP’s ‘PDA’ (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) outreach, and the celebration needed to offer her one other likelihood. Now, Pal is questioning the place the ‘PDA narrative’ has gone in mild of the motion towards her.

As per sources in BJP, Pal is in contact with the UP BJP management and is more likely to be part of the ruling celebration earlier than the subsequent meeting polls.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)

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