Who Is Pooja Pal? Chail MLA Expelled From Samajwadi Party For Praising UP CM Yogi Adityanath In Assembly - VIDEO

The Samajwadi Party on Thursday removed Pooja Pal, MLA from Kaushambi's Chayal assembly seat, hours after she showered praise on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath whilst speaking in the state Assembly.

In a letter addressed to Pooja Pal dated 14th August, party president Akhilesh Yadav said that she was involved in anti-party activities and, despite repeated warnings, she did not stop causing damage to the party.

"The work done by you is anti-party and constitutes serious indiscipline. Therefore, you are expelled from the Samajwadi Party with immediate effect. Along with this, you are also removed from all other positions in the Samajwadi Party, and now you will not participate in any programme/meeting etc. of the Samajwadi Party, nor will you be invited for the same," the letter further stated.

The disciplinary action against Pooja Pal comes a day after she supported Yogi Adityanath's "zero-tolerance" policy, adding that today the entire state looks at him with trust.

"I lost my husband; everyone knows how my husband was murdered and by whom. I thank the Chief Minister who ensured justice for me and listened to me when no one else did. The Chief Minister has ensured justice for many women like me in Prayagraj and punished criminals. The Chief Minister has brought policies like zero tolerance and has reduced criminals like Atiq Ahmed to dust. Today, the entire state looks at the Chief Minister with trust," she said.

"The Chief Minister has done the work of reducing my husband's murderer, Atiq Ahmed, to dust... I support his zero-tolerance policy. I raised my voice when I saw that no one wanted to fight against criminals like Atiq Ahmed... When I started to tire from this fight, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ensured justice for me," she added.

Who is Pooja Pal?

Pooja is the widow of former BSP MLA Raju Pal. She got married to Raju Pal on 15th January 2005. Her husband was murdered merely 10 days after their marriage. Mafia don Atiq Ahmed's brother Ashraf was accused of killing the BSP MLA. She was pitted against Atiq Ahmed's brother Ashraf by the BSP in a bypoll from Allahabad city's western seat; however, she lost. She was again given a BSP ticket in 2007 and contested successfully, reaching the UP assembly. In 2012, she was re-elected from the seat. In 2019, she suffered defeat at the hands of the BJP's Siddharth Singh.

A few months after the elections, she met with Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. Upset over the meeting, Mayawati reportedly sacked her from the party in February 2018.

Pooja joined the Samajwadi Party in 2019 and successfully contested the 2022 Assembly election from Kaushambi's Chail seat.

However, for the past one year, she had been accused of anti-party activities. It has been speculated that she may get a BJP ticket in the 2027 Assembly elections; however, Pooja has not reacted after her expulsion from the party.