SP expels MLA Pooja Pal hours after she praised CM Adityanath for action against Atiq Ahmad
Lucknow, Aug 14 (PTI): The Samajwadi Party on Thursday expelled its MLA Pooja Pal for alleged anti-party activities, hours after she praised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the assembly for "reducing gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad to dust", who was linked to the killing of her husband.
She has become the fourth MLA to be expelled by the Samajwadi Party (SP) since June for what it termed as "anti-party" activities by its lawmakers.
The MLA later said that the SP handed over the expulsion letter in the House for praising the chief minister.
Pooja Pal, who represents the Chail assembly constituency in Kaushambi district, is the wife of Raju Pal, a former BSP MLA from Prayagraj West who was shot dead just days after their wedding in January 2005 in an attack linked to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad.
Ahmad, 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 while they were being escorted by police for a medical check-up in Prayagraj on April 15, 2023.
The killing took place in full view of the media and was broadcast live.
Pooja Pal, during a discussion on Vision 2047 in the UP Assembly on Thursday, thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for seeing her "hidden tears that no one noticed for years".
"My grief and pain were acknowledged and justice was delivered," she said. The MLA said there are many such bereaved families in Prayagraj who have "received justice" under CM Adityanath.
"Countless women have lost their husbands, countless mothers have lost their sons, and I thank the CM who brought in a zero-tolerance policy to wipe out criminals and mafias like Atiq Ahmad," Pal said.
She then thanked the CM for "reducing mafia such as Atiq Ahmad to dust".
The SP, in a letter to Pal, accused her of indulging in activities against the interests of the party despite repeated warnings.
A copy of the letter, which was signed by SP president Akhilesh Yadav, was also marked to the speaker of the legislative assembly. The letter's copy also got leaked on social media.
The letter said Pal's actions amounted to "serious indiscipline" and that she was being removed from all party posts with immediate effect.
It also stated that Pal would no longer be allowed to attend any party programme or meeting, nor be invited to any such event.
Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak said the expulsion showed the Samajwadi Party's "anti-women" character. UP minister Anil Rajbhar slammed the SP for "not letting a woman MLA from a backward community" speak in the House.
Speaking to reporters, Pal alleged that she was removed from the party for praising Adityanath inside the state assembly. "I was sitting in the House, I praised the chief minister in the House, and then in the House itself, I was handed the envelope (expulsion letter)."
Pal said, "It is clear that I was expelled for praising the CM."
Asked if she would join the BJP, Pal said, "I have had no such discussion with anyone."
She said politics was never a big priority for her and that she wanted to seek justice for her husband.
Pal said from the beginning of her political career in 2005 until Atiq Ahmad's death in 2023, she worked to ensure he never became an MLA or MP again.
She recalled thanking CM Adityanath on the day Ahmad was killed in April 2023, and said she wanted justice for her husband, for herself, and for the voters who had elected him, as well as for families whose members were allegedly killed at Ahmad's behest.
Praising Adityanath's approach, Pal said she understood his resolve the day he told the assembly that he would "reduce such criminals to dust."
"Only a man can speak like that," she remarked. "When encounters of criminals began, SP leaders suddenly started calling all encounters fake."
Taking direct aim at the SP leadership, Pal said, "You must decide and tell everyone whether you stand with a victim's family or with mafia figures who were killed in encounters, or with the people they victimised. First, speak about your double standards."
Deputy CM Pathak said the expulsion of Pooja Pal for "supporting the vision of developed India" in the House on the eve of Independence Day reflects the "ghatia soch (cheap mindset)" of the Samajwadi Party. "The entire House has unanimously accepted that the policy of the Samajwadi Party is anti-women."
Speaking to PTI Videos, UP Minister Anil Rajbhar hit out at the SP for not "allowing a woman MLA from the backward community to speak in the House. "Their act has unmasked the Samajwadi Party in the Assembly. She has praised the chief minister and everybody should listen to what she said in the Assembly".
In June, the SP expelled three other MLAs -- Abhay Singh (Gosainganj, Ayodhya), Rakesh Pratap Singh (Gauriganj, Amethi) and Manoj Kumar Pandey (Unchahar, Raebareli) -- accusing them of cross-voting in the 2024 Rajya Sabha polls to help the BJP and of working against the party's core values.
The reduction in the Samajwadi Party's numbers will not make any impact on the composition in the assembly, where the BJP and its allies have a comfortable majority, even as the next elections are due in 2027.
In the 403-member UP Assembly, the BJP holds 258 seats, followed by the SP with 107.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
'Someone must be held accountable': HC converts civil suit on Goa nightclub tragedy into PIL
Panaji (PTI): The Bombay High Court on Monday converted a civil suit against Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub into a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) saying "someone has to be held accountable" for the tragedy in which 25 people were killed.In a stern observation, Goa bench of the High Court of Justices Sarang Kotwal and Ashish Chavan said the local panchayat had "failed to take suo motu cognisance" of the club and had taken "no action despite complaints."
The division bench directed the Goa government to file a detailed reply on the permissions granted to the nightclub.
The High Court, while fixing January 8 as the next date of hearing, pointed out that commercial operations were continuing in the structure despite it having been served a demolition order.
The original petition was filed after the December 6 tragedy by Pradeep Ghadi Amonkar and Sunil Divkar, the owners of the land on which the nightclub was operating.
ALSO READ: Veteran Congress leader Shamanuru Shivashankarappa laid to rest with full state honours
Advocate Rohit Bras de Sa, the lawyer representing the petitioner, was made amicus curiae in the matter and has been asked to file a detailed affidavit in the matter.
In their petition, Amonkar and Divkar highlighted "the alarming pattern of statutory violations that have remained inadequately addressed despite multiple complaints, inspections, show-cause notices, and even a demolition order".
They contended that these violations posed "immediate threats to public safety, ecological integrity, and the rule of law in the state of Goa."
Investigations by multiple agencies into the nightclub fire have revealed various irregularities, including lack of permissions to operate the nightclub.
The Goa police arrested five managers and staff members of the club, while co-owners Gaurav Luthra and Saurabh Luthra have been detained in Thailand after they fled the country.
