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Lucknow, Mar 26 (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday took a swipe at former party MLA Pooja Pal, saying she had been "misled", drawing a sharp rebuttal from the BJP, which accused the SP of having a "blood-stained history" linked to the Raju Pal murder case.

Reacting to Pooja Pal describing Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath as "Dhurandhar", Yadav said she had "not yet understood" the chief minister and remarked sarcastically that she could have used an even stronger term.

"Wo (Adityanath) to Dhurandhar se bhi Dhurandhar hain," Yadav remarked teasingly.

He alleged that the BJP was "worried" due to the presence of senior SP leader Shyamlal Pal and claimed that the ruling party had no prominent leader from the Pal community to match his stature.

"They have misled our party's MLA, Pooja Pal. You can imagine what party workers must be going through who helped her win. It is also worth thinking about how her MLA fund is being utilised now," Yadav said at a press conference here.

He added that she was initially not expelled from the party as she was a woman legislator, but was later removed due to "compulsion", and questioned the political backing behind her election.

Responding to Yadav's remarks, Union Minister of State for Finance and Uttar Pradesh BJP president Pankaj Chaudhary launched a strong attack on the SP, invoking the killing of former MLA Raju Pal.

"The FIR should be filed over that blood-soaked history in which those who killed the promising son of the Pal community, late Raju Pal, were sheltered and elevated by the Samajwadi Party," Chaudhary said in a statement.

He accused the SP of having longstanding links with "crime, mafia and patronage politics" and alleged that criminals were given political legitimacy during its tenure.

Taking a swipe at Yadav, Chaudhary said those claiming people are being "misled" should first explain why criminals enjoyed high morale during SP rule, when the state was often associated with "jungle raj".

He further claimed that the Pal community has now moved away from what he termed "fake socialism" towards politics focused on development, security and nationalism.

The exchange comes amid continuing political sparring over Pooja Pal, a former SP MLA from Chail in Kaushambi district.

Pooja Pal is the widow of former BSP MLA Raju Pal, who was shot dead in 2005 in Prayagraj shortly after his marriage in an attack linked to gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad.

She was expelled from the SP in August last year for alleged anti-party activities after praising the Yogi Adityanath government in the Assembly for action against criminals, including those linked to her husband's killing.

The BJP cited her remarks and subsequent developments to question the SP's political stance, while asserting that voters are increasingly judging parties on governance, law and order, and development.

Chaudhary said the SP should introspect instead of making allegations, adding that the public is aware of who stands for development and who engages in "destructive politics" PTI KIS HIG HIG

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)