Lucknow, August 14, 2025 – The Samajwadi Party (SP) today kicked out its own MLA, Pooja Pal, from Chail, calling it a case of serious misbehavior and working against the party. This came just hours after she stood up in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for taking strong action against gangster Atiq Ahmed, who she said killed her husband. Party boss Akhilesh Yadav signed off on the expulsion, saying Pooja had damaged the SP’s image with her words.
It all went down during a long 24-hour talk in the Assembly about the state’s big plan for 2047. Pooja, who’s been an MLA for a long time, got emotional while speaking. She said everyone knows Atiq Ahmed was behind the murder of her husband, Raju Pal, back in 2005. Raju was also an MLA at the time, and the killing shook up politics in Prayagraj. Pooja took over his fight, getting elected multiple times, first with BSP, then Congress, and finally SP in 2022.
In her speech, she praised Yogi’s tough stance on crime, saying his zero-tolerance policy led to Atiq’s end. “The Chief Minister buried my husband’s killer in the ground,” she said, thanking him for giving justice when no one else would. She added that Yogi helped many women like her in Prayagraj by cracking down on such gangsters. Atiq Ahmed, a former MP with a long criminal record, was shot dead along with his brother in April 2023 while in police custody. This happened after a key witness in Raju’s murder case was also killed earlier that year.
The SP didn’t waste time. By afternoon, they put out a notice expelling her for “anti-party activities” and “indiscipline.” Party folks said her praise for Yogi, who’s from the rival BJP, crossed a line and hurt the SP’s stand against the government. Akhilesh Yadav has been trying to keep his team tight after some tough losses, and this move shows he’s not putting up with any slips.
Pooja hasn’t said much yet about getting the boot. But her words in the Assembly hinted at deep personal pain from years of seeking justice. Raju’s murder was tied to a feud with Atiq, who Pooja blamed directly. She switched parties over time, but always focused on fighting crime in her area.
This expulsion adds fuel to the fire in UP politics, where SP and BJP are always at each other’s throats. Yogi’s government has been pushing hard on law and order, using it as a big selling point. For SP, losing an MLA like this might hurt their hold in Prayagraj and surrounding areas, a key spot. Some say it shows cracks in the party, especially with elections on the horizon.
Political watchers think Pooja might go independent or even join another party, but nothing’s clear yet. For now, it’s a reminder that in politics, loyalty matters as much as anything else. The Assembly session keeps going, but this political drama stole the spotlight today.
