New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Thursday (August 15) expelled its MLA Pooja Pal from the party, just hours after she publicly praised Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s “zero-tolerance” policy on crime. The decision marks the fourth expulsion of rebel legislators by the SP in less than two months.

In an audacious move during the ongoing 24-hour assembly debate on the Vision Document 2047, Pal, who represents Chail in Kaushambi, lauded the UP chief minister for finally delivering justice in her husband’s 2005 murder case.

"Everyone knows who murdered my husband." Despite SP leadership issuing earlier warnings against praising a rival party’s policies, Pooja Pal said, “The chief minister heard me when no one else did. His zero-tolerance policy led to the killing of criminals like Atiq Ahmed. Today, the entire state looks at him with trust.”

“Mere pati ke hatyare Atiq Ahmed ko Mukhya Mantri ne mitti mein milaane ka kaam kiya (The chief minister buried my husband's murderer, Atiq Ahmed),” she said.

Acting swiftly, SP national president Akhilesh Yadav issued a letter later that day, citing “anti-party activities” and “serious indiscipline.”

The letter stated, “You have carried out anti-party activities and refused to stop them despite being warned, causing significant damage to the party. The work you have done is anti-party and represents a major act of indiscipline. Hence, you are dismissed from SP with immediate effect.”

The letter also banned her from all party meetings and events.

Three other rebel SP MLAs – Abhay Singh, Rakesh Pratap Singh and Manoj Pandey – were expelled on June 21 for cross-voting during the February 2024 Rajya Sabha polls in favour of BJP-backed candidates. Pal, however, had avoided expulsion at that time, likely due to caste considerations.

Pooja Pal, the widow of slain BSP MLA Raju Pal, has long been a prominent political figure in Prayagraj. In January 2005, ,just days after their wedding, Raju Pal, while contesting on a BSP ticket, was shot dead by a gangster affiliated with former MLA Atiq Ahmed.

Pal had entered politics soon after and but lost the Allahabad West bypoll against Ashraf Ahmed, Atiq’s brother. She retained the seat in 2007 and 2012 but lost in 2017 to BJP’s Sidharth Nath Singh.

After her expulsion from the BSP by Mayawati in 2018, over a reported meeting with BJP leader Keshav Prasad Maurya, Pal joined the SP in 2019. She won Chail in the 2022 assembly polls.

Ms. Pal’s praises for Adityanath during the August 13 assembly debate were not the first time she crossed party lines. In February 2024, she was among seven SP MLAs who supported BJP candidates in the Rajya Sabha elections. Despite internal anger, Akhilesh chose not to expel her at that time.

Political commentators suggest that decision was based on caste dynamics. As Utkarsh Sinha noted, “Cross-voting by Pal in 2024 was overlooked because of caste chemistry. Akhilesh wanted to keep the Pal community within the fold.”

Senior SP leader Udaiveer Singh publicly defended the expulsion, saying, “Pooja’s words and actions have been damaging the party image for the past many years. We gave her a chance earlier to change her anti-party stance because she hails from a vulnerable community... She didn’t change her stance and compelled us to expel her from the party.”

Singh further alleged that Pal was perhaps acting out of “fear” or under pressure from the BJP:

“We gave her a ticket from the seat of her choice – we even planned to field her from Unnao – but she deceived us.” He added that party insiders suspect she may have been blackmailed or influenced.

Defiant even after her expulsion, Pal defended her comments strongly, “Perhaps you could not hear the women in Prayagraj who were even more worried than me. But I am their voice. I have been elected as an MLA and sent to the Assembly. I am the voice of mothers and sisters who have lost their loved ones.”

She emphasised that her criticism was not aimed at the SP but rather to highlight years of injustice, “I have been saying this from day one, even when I was in the party. I stand by my statement even today. I was a victim woman first, a wife first.”

She underscored her personal pain – having lost her husband in broad daylight – and argued that her gratitude did not amount to betrayal against her party.

Senior journalist Mudit Mathur wrote on Pal's expulsion: “It was much expected that one day Akhilesh would expel her from his party. He believes that every party has the right to expel those who are deceived, but Akhilesh should have served her show-cause notice before expelling her directly.”

Mathur stressed that internal discipline shouldn’t sidestep due process.

Similarly, Utkarsh Singh pointed out that the SP now has an alternate leader from the Pal community – state president Shayamlal Pal – giving the party room to act without fear of alienating a key vote bank.

UP deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak, aligned with the BJP, lashed out at the SP. “The entire House has unanimously accepted that the policy of the Samajwadi Party is anti-women. This reflects their ghatiya soch [cheap mindset],” he alleged.

Defending Pooja Pal, he remarked that her gratitude for Adityanath's governance was not worthy of expulsion.

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