AMID AN ongoing war of words between Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and MLA Pooja Pal, who was recently expelled from the party, Yadav on Monday alleged that “someone may be behind the words written by Pooja Pal.”
Without referring to anyone by name, Yadav alleged during a press conference that it is either a “Deputy Chief Minister” or “someone else” who is helping Pal write these letters, reiterating his demand for an inquiry into the allegations she levelled after her meeting with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Yadav’s remarks come after Pal on Monday wrote to him on Monday, accusing him of shielding criminals and saying she fears the “SP-sponsored mafia” might get her killed.
The three-time MLA and widow of murdered BSP MLA Raju Pal also said that the SP’s policies are dangerous for social harmony and alleged that the party “continues to nurture criminals, a sin future generations will not forgive.”
Pooja Pal was expelled by the SP on August 14 for “breach of discipline” after she praised in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s crackdown on the mafia.
“My husband was chased and gunned down in broad daylight when the SP was in power. Even after his murder, the SP fielded (gangster) Atiq Ahmed’s brother Ashraf against me in three elections. When I needed support, the party sided with my husband’s killers,” Pal wrote in a letter that soon surfaced on social media.
“My husband was murdered under SP rule. No such crime has happened under any other government,” asserted the MLA from Chail in Kaushambi.
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Reacting to Pal’s letter, Yadav suggested that she was acting at the behest of the BJP.
“Who is getting the letter written? Deputy Chief Minister? Or someone else…,” he told mediapersons.
“I want to reiterate that after meeting the CM, who is threatening her?” Yadav asked, claiming that his party has already demanded a probe into the matter.
Thanking voters and the Pal community for backing her against SP candidates, Pal alleged in her letter that the SP expelled her not for cross-voting in a Rajya Sabha election as was widely believed but because she named mafia don Atiq Ahmad in the Assembly.
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Reacting to Akhilesh Yadav’s statement that the SP had made her an MLA and the BJP had opposed her, Pal said she never aspired for any post. “My only aim was to get justice for my husband’s killers. The Yogi Adityanath government ensured punishment to them, while SP continues to nurture criminals, a sin future generations will not forgive,” she said.
Pal alleged that her expulsion from SP emboldened the Atiq Ahmed family and warned that its members still pose a threat to her life.
“They may be silent under the Yogi Adityanath-led government’s pressure, but the SP’s actions have boosted their morale,” she claimed.
Targeting SP’s PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority) unity plank, Pal said Yadav changes its meaning repeatedly.
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“I am a daughter of the Pal community – poor, helpless, and backward – and yet, you never stood firm on PDA. Even in your government, extremely backward castes were treated as leftovers…,” she alleged.
Referring to SP state president Shyamlal Pal’s letter to Union Home Minister Amit Shah seeking a probe into her allegations, Pooja Pal said she too demanded a probe and expressed full faith in Shah.
She dismissed suggestions about facing any threat from BJP leaders.
“I have fought dangers all my life. My people and the Pal community stand like a rock behind me. SP cannot finish me so easily. Its policies are dangerous for social harmony,” she said.
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The SP on Sunday urged the Union home ministry to investigate her claims and said the truth must come to light.
During the Uttar Pradesh Assembly’s Monsoon session, Pal praised Chief Minister Adityanath for ending what she described as the reign of terror of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad in Prayagraj.
Ahmad had allegedly plotted the 2005 murder of her husband Raju Pal, just days after their marriage.
On April 15, 2023, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range while being taken for a medical checkup by police.
