Lucknow, 25 Aug (HS): Pooja Pal, an expelled

Samajwadi Party MLA, wrote to party head Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, accusing him

of harbouring criminals and expressing her worry that the SP-sponsored mafia

will kill her. The three-time MLA and widow of deceased BSP MLA Raju Pal, who

was expelled by the SP on August 14 for breach of discipline, also stated that

the party's policies are hazardous to societal peace. When the SP was in

charge, my husband was tracked down and killed in broad daylight with AK-47

guns.

Even after murder, the SP put Atiq Ahmad's brother Ashraf against me in

three elections. When I sought help, the party sided with my husband's

assassins, Pal said in a letter that has gone viral on social media.

My husband was

assassinated during SP authority. No comparable crime occurred under any other

regime. I'm afraid the SP-sponsored mafia would have me assassinated, said an

SP MLA from Chail in Kaushambi. Pal thanked people and the Pal community for

supporting her against SP candidates, claiming that SP expelled her not for

cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha election, as was commonly assumed, but because

she identified mafia don Atiq Ahmad in the Assembly. Pal responded to Akhilesh

Yadav's claim that the SP had made her MLA and the BJP opposed her, saying she

had never sought to be a minister. My sole goal was to obtain justice for my

husband's killers.

The Yogi Adityanath administration assured their punishment,

but SP continues to shelter criminals, a sin that future generation will not

forgive, she stated.

Pal said that her

dismissal from SP empowered the Atiq Ahmad family and warned that its members

remain a threat to her life. They may keep mute due to the Yogi government's

pressure, but SP's activities have bolstered their morale, she stated. Pal

accused Yadav of changing the meaning of SP's PDA (Backward, Dalit, Minority)

formula on many occasions.

I am a Pal community daughter - poor, powerless, and backward - yet you have never

stood fast on PDA. She said that your administration treated severely

disadvantaged castes as leftovers while prioritizing your own caste and

Muslims.

Referring to SP state president Shyamlal Pal's letter to Union Home

Minister Amit Shah requesting an investigation into her accusations, Pooja Pal

stated that she, too, requested an investigation and had complete trust in

Shah. She ignored any threats from BJP leaders. I've spent my entire life

fighting threats. My people and the Pal community are like rocks behind me. SP

can't finish me so simply. Its policies endanger societal cohesion, she claims.

On Sunday, the SP requested the Union Home Ministry to probe her charges,

saying the truth must be revealed. During the state assembly's Monsoon session,

Pal commended Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for putting a stop to what she

characterized as Atiq Ahmad's reign of terror in Prayagraj.

Ahmad reportedly planned her MLA husband Raju Pal's murder in 2005, only days

after they married. On April 15, 2023, Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf were

shot dead at point blank range by police while being transported for a medical

checkup.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi