LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party MLA from the Chail assembly segment, Pooja Pal, who was recently expelled from the party for appreciating UP CM Yogi Adityanath, has written a letter to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav accusing him of strengthening criminal elements within the organisation by "insulting and deserting her midway."
In the letter, Pooja Pal alleged that she was being subjected to severe trolling on social media and was also receiving life threats after her expulsion from the party. She added that her only aim—receiving justice for her husband's murder—had been fulfilled, and now, even if she were killed, it would not matter. She stated that if anything happened to her, the Samajwadi Party and its chief, Akhilesh Yadav, should be held responsible.
Pooja Pal wrote the letter days after her expulsion, which is also attributed to her cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha election last year. Moreover, during the monsoon session of the state assembly, the Chail MLA had praised Yogi Adityanath for ridding Prayagraj of the "reign of terror" of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, who had allegedly orchestrated the murder of her husband, Raju Pal, in broad daylight just nine days after her marriage in 2005.
Sharing the letter addressed to Akhilesh Yadav on her X account, Pooja wrote: "My voice against injustice and betrayal! Expulsion from the party is not just about me, but an attempt to suppress the voice of the backwards, Dalits, and poor people of Uttar Pradesh. I have fought and will continue to fight the battle for justice."
The expelled MLA alleged that her ouster from SP was not just a personal matter but also an effort to silence the concerns of the state's backward classes, Dalits, and economically weaker sections. She claimed that the expulsion would have sent a message to the SC, ST, and OBC communities about whether Akhilesh Yadav is truly a protector of the "Pichhde" (backwards), Dalits, and "Alpsankhyak" (minorities) (PDA).
She wrote that she joined the SP because she believed the party could deliver justice to backwards communities. However, her efforts to seek justice for her husband Raju Pal, a BSP MLA, during the SP government, were met with disappointment, she said.
Pooja Pal reiterated her praise for the Yogi Adityanath government, saying that long-overdue justice was delivered during the BJP’s tenure. Questioning her expulsion from the party—allegedly for cross-voting in favour of a BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha elections last year, which resulted in the defeat of an SP candidate—she claimed: "Akhilesh Yadav himself voted for a BJP candidate in the Constitutional Club elections in Delhi just days later."