Expelled SP MLA Pooja Pal says she won't be joining BJP as of now

Lucknow: Chail MLA Pooja Pal, who was recently expelled by the Samajwadi Party for anti-party activities, said on Sunday that she would not be joining the BJP as of now, and will take the next political step after discussing with members of her community.

She had called on Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath a day ago.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Pal asserted that she was associated with "the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav" and not of Mulayam Singh Yadav.

When asked whether she has closed the door on Samajwadi Party, Pal told PTI, "They closed the door themselves, and it was a good thing. If I join any party, it would be based on the 'vichaar' (ideology), and your vichaar should be clear."

She added that when Akhilesh Yadav-led government was in power from 2012 to 2017, the party had kept mafia at a distance. "I was not associated with the Samajwadi Party of Mulayam Singh Yadav. I was associated with the Samajwadi Party of Akhilesh Yadav, because he had kept the mafia away," Pal said.

She added that the party had questioned the encounter of Asad Ahmed, son of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed who was shot dead in 2023.

On her next political move, the three-time MLA said she will talk to members of the Pal community before taking a decision. When asked if she plans to join the BJP, Pal said, "Not as of now." The Chail MLA had called on Adityanath at his official residence in Lucknow on Saturday. Both the office of the chief minister and Pal posted about the meeting on microblogging site X.

"Honourable MLA of Chail assembly constituency of Kaushambi district, Pooja Pal, made a courtesy visit to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Lucknow today," the office of Yogi Adityanath said in a post in Hindi.

Sharing a photograph of the meeting, Pal also wrote in Hindi, "I once again thank the honourable chief minister. Under his leadership, goons and mafias are shown their rightful place, which is very important for a progressive society." In a long X post earlier on Sunday, Pal detailed how she was being targeted politically.

"There are some people who always comment on my personal life and keep writing about it. I have no problem if they do, but they should write the truth, because I contested the election from their party, their leader knows everything..."

"They knew I lost the election in 2017. Taking this as an opportunity, some party leaders -- Atiq Ahmed and my maternal relatives who wanted to contest the MLA election -- started working to end my political career. I was unable to fight Raju Pal's (her husband) case. A conspiracy was hatched against me by Atiq, in which my own family members were involved," the post read.

She further wrote that after Atiq Ahmed was murdered, her brothers took up her case. "They told me to get married, that they are with me. But a few days after the marriage, I came to know the truth. These same people were sitting somewhere and talking that now all the case against Atiq will be closed. But I will not back off." She also mentioned that she has applied for divorce.

Pooja Pal's husband Raju Pal, a former BSP MLA From Prayagraj West, was shot dead nine days after their wedding in January 2005, in an attack linked to Atiq Ahmed.

Ahmed, a former MP and multiple-time MLA from Allahabad West, was serving a life sentence when he and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three assailants in full media view while they were being escorted by police for a medical check-up in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023.

"Now when I spoke the truth in the assembly, despite knowing everything, out of irritation and revenge, they hatched a conspiracy to tarnish my image and kept writing about my personal life," the Chail MLA's post continued.

"The people of my city -- Prayagraj West and Chail -- know everything about my sorrows. That is why their support is still with me. Out of fear of this, some 'samajwadis' are using all kinds of tricks to tarnish my image," she added.

Pooja Pal was expelled from the Samajwadi Party on Thursday, just hours after she praised Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the Assembly for "reducing Atiq Ahmed to dust".

During the 24-hour special discussion on 'Vision 2047' at the ongoing monsoon session of the Assembly, Pal had said that the present government's anti-crime policies had brought her husband's killers to the ground.

"The chief minister has done the work of reducing my husband's murderer into dust. He saw my hidden tears, which no one saw for years," she had told the House.