The Samajwadi Party (SP) has asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah to order a probe into the allegations made by expelled Chail MLA, Pooja Pal, that her life was under threat from Samajwadi Party after she met Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
SP’s UP unit president Shyamlal Pal, in a letter to the Union Home Minister, sought an inquiry and called Pal’s statements “inspired by the BJP” and part of a larger conspiracy to tarnish the image of the party.
Pooja Pal, a three-time MLA and widow of murdered BSP MLA Raju Pal, was expelled by the SP on August 14, hours after she praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for ending, what she described, as the “reign of terror” of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad in Prayagraj.
Atiq Ahmad had allegedly plotted the 2005 murder of her husband Raju Pal, just days after their marriage. On April 15, 2023, Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead from a point-blank range while being taken for a medical check-up by police.
In his letter to Amit Shah, Shyamlal Pal rejected Pooja Pal’s allegations and asked for an investigation into what he described as “baseless and indecent” statements.
“Recently, many statements of Chail MLA from Kaushambi district, Pooja Pal have appeared on social media and in the press. All these statements are beyond truth and indecent. These statements are inspired by the BJP and are part of a conspiracy against the Samajwadi Party. She was made an MLA by the Samajwadi Party. When she was in trouble in her personal life, Samajwadi Party and its national president, Akhilesh Yadav stood by her and helped her in every possible way,” wrote Shymlal in the letter.
Shyamlal further said that Pooja Pal, who was previously completely safe in Samajwadi Party, started worrying about her life and property “after coming in contact with the BJP”, and further alleged that Pooja Pal is being used as a pawn to spread “negative propaganda against the Samajwadi Party.”
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“After meeting the chief minister, she claimed that her life is in danger from the Samajwadi Party and if anything happens to her, the Samajwadi Party will be responsible for it. Mrs Pooja Pal should clarify who is threatening her life. Whereas the government is responsible for the safety of life. In such a situation, it is necessary to investigate the baseless and unwarranted allegation of Pooja Pal. The Samajwadi Party demands that this allegation should be investigated and the truth should be brought out.”
Maintaining that they do not trust the state government, which is why they are seeking justice from the central government, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said that Pooja Pal might be “killed by the BJP and SP leaders might be jailed for it.”
“I fail to understand how someone meets the CM and then speaks about threat to their life from the leader of another party,” said Akhilesh. “Yahan hum log jail chale jayenge.. Maar Denge BJP wale ( Here we will go to jail, we will be killed by the BJP). Even though I should not speak like this.”
Explaining why he said it, Akhilesh said, “If there is any such thing and someone fears for their life then there should be an inquiry as to who such people are of the organization, who can take a life. The government should inquire.” “We cannot trust the UP government that is why a letter has been sent to the Union Home Minister hoping that we would soon get justice from there,” said Akhilesh.
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In a letter addressed to Akhilesh and shared on X, Pooja Pal accused him of strengthening criminal elements within the party by “insulting and deserting her midway”, adding that that she was being subjected to severe trolling on social media and is receiving life threats. She claimed that if anything happened to her, the Samajwadi Party and Akhilesh Yadav should be held responsible.
