‘CM for a day’ Jagdambika Pal adds another record to his name. This time, for expunged remarks

August 14, 2026 Headlinesnews

Lucknow: Jagdambika Pal, the BJP MP from Domariyaganj, holds the unenviable record of being ‘chief minister for a day’ of Uttar Pradesh. That was 28 years ago. The BJP leader has arguably set another record. He is now the only Presiding Officer of the Lok Sabha whose remarks, delivered from the Chair, were expunged twice by the Speaker.

Speaker Om Birla Wednesday expunged from the official record remarks Pal made when he was presiding over the House. This was the second time during the Monsoon Session that Pal’s remarks were expunged. The remarks were directed at Samajwadi Party MP Chotelal, who represents Robertsganj. Pal, trying to restore order in the House after it resumed at 2 PM following an adjournment, was asking opposition MPs to return to their seats.

This was not the first time that Birla expunged remarks made by Pal from the chair.

On 5 August, Birla directed that Pal’s remarks be expunged ahead of the passage of the Bankers’ Books Evidence Bill, 2026. At the time, Pal had commented on SP MP Ruchi Vira and Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, who were protesting against Delhi Police action during ‘Sansad Chalo’ protest march called by Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) on 20 July. Pal had made the remarks while reprimanding opposition MPs for disrupting the proceedings.

According to former Lok Sabha Secretary General P.D.T. Achary, “This is the first time that remarks made by a presiding officer have been expunged twice. This is quite surprising. A presiding officer should be careful while conducting Lok Sabha proceedings. This does not set a good example.”

But Pal has another, far more unusual, record to his name. He was chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for only about 31 hours. The episode dates back to 21 February, 1998. Then Uttar Pradesh Governor Romesh Bhandari dismissed Kalyan Singh’s government and appointed Pal in his place. Pal, who was then a minister in the Kalyan Singh-led BJP government, was sworn in as the state’s 17th chief minister at around 10 PM that night.

The dramatic change followed withdrawal of support by Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati to the BJP government. Mayawati backed Pal, who was then leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress legislature party, and urged the Governor to invite him to form the government, claiming that Kalyan Singh had lost his majority.

The BJP challenged the Governor’s decision in court. The following day, the Allahabad High Court ordered the restoration of Kalyan Singh’s government, bringing Pal’s stint as chief minister to an end within about 31 hours. The dispute later reached the Supreme Court which ordered a floor test to determine who enjoyed majority support in the Assembly.

Kalyan Singh secured 225 votes, while Pal received 196.

The episode had also led to criticism of then Assembly Speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi over his decisions concerning the disqualification of 12 legislators under the anti-defection law. Even after the votes of the 12 MLAs were excluded, Kalyan Singh still had a majority. Before the floor test, he had offered to prove his majority, but the Governor rejected the proposal.

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Pal’s political journey

Jagdambika Pal began his political career with the Congress in the 1980s. He became a member of the UP Legislative Council twice, between 1982 and 1993.

He was elected as an MLA in 1993 from Uttar Pradesh’s Basti constituency and later joined the All India Indira Congress (Tiwari), led by N.D. Tiwari.

In 1997, Pal joined Naresh Agarwal, Rajeev Shukla, Shyam Sundar Sharma and Bacha Pathak to form the Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress and was made transport minister in the Kalyan Singh-led BJP government.

Pal re-joined the Congress in 2003 and was appointed president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), a position he held until 2004.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha for the first time in 2009. Pal parted ways with the Congress and joined the BJP in the run-up to the 2014 general election.

He won the Domariyaganj seat in 2014, 2019 and 2024, and is currently a member of the 18th Lok Sabha.

According to a senior Congress leader, “Pal was in Rahul Gandhi’s good books until 2014. He then sensed the mood on the ground and switched to the BJP.”

“Recently, he taunted Rahul Gandhi by saying, ‘Aapne meri suni hoti toh main idhar kyun aata?’ (If you had heard me out, why would I have switched sides?) But the reality is that he understands the political winds and chooses his party accordingly. Though he is now with the BJP, he is not communal. That is his style of politics. In UP’s circles he is commonly called as ‘ek din ka CM’,” the Congress leader added, requesting anonymity.

(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)

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