25-year-old, arrested for waving black flag at Adityanath, is now SP candidate

Lucknow (UP): Waving black flags at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and her subsequent arrest for what she calls a democratic protest opened the doors of mainstream politics for 25-year-old Pooja Shukla.

She is now the Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate from Lucknow North and is among the youngest candidates in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

Shukla hogged the limelight in June 2017 when she, along with 10 others, tried to stop Adityanath's cavalcade on the Lucknow University Road and waved black flags to protest against government policies.

On June 7, 2017, when Yogi was on his way to the Lucknow University campus to take part in `Hindi Swaraj Diwas' event, students affiliated to All India Students Association, Students Federation of India and Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha sat on the road and blocked his convoy, showed him black flags and raised slogans against the state government, Shukla said.

We were arrested and sent to jail the next day. This happened despite using democratic means to protest. I had never thought we would be arrested but it reaffirmed my faith in fighting for what is right, she said recalling the incident.

On being released from jail after 20 days, Pooja met SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and became the face of Samajwadi Chatra Sabha, the party's student wing.