Akhilesh Yadav, other SP leaders pay tribute to Phoolan Devi on her death anniversary

The Samajwadi Party held a formal ceremony at its state headquarters and various district offices to pay tribute to the late MP

LUCKNOW/DELHI Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday paid tribute to Phoolan Devi, a former Lok Sabha MP from his party, on her 21st death anniversary. Phoolan Devi, popularly known as Bandit Queen, had joined the SP after the then state government, headed by Mulayam Singh Yadav, withdrew all charges against her in 1994.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav paid tribute to Phoolan Devi with an old photograph of her standing next to a bicycle and showing the ‘victory’ sign. The bicycle is the election symbol of the SP. (Sourced)

The Samajwadi Party (SP) held a formal ceremony at the party’s state headquarters and various district offices to pay tribute to the late MP.

“Former MP of Samajwadi Party... Salutes and humble tributes to Phoolan Devi ji on her death anniversary,” Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, with an old photograph of her standing next to a bicycle and showing the ‘victory’ sign. The bicycle is the election symbol of the SP.

Many other leaders, including SP’s secretary and chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary and state president Naresh Uttam Patel, paid floral tributes to Phoolan Devi, a statement by the party said.

“SP president Akhilesh Yadav believes that the story of Phoolan Devi is the history of the struggle of the backward, deprived and dalits. She was the symbol of Kashyap, Mallah, Bind and Nishad society’s identity and social justice. The SP had taken a big step in the direction of making Phoolan an MP and getting the Kashyap-Nishad society its due respect,” Chaudhary said on the occasion.

‘Bandit Queen’Phoolan Devi, who later turned to politics, along with her gang members were accused of killing 20 people belonging to the Thakur community at Behmai village in Kanpur Dehat on February 14, 1981. She was elected from the Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency in 1996 and 1999 from the Samajwadi Party. She was shot dead outside her MP bungalow in New Delhi on July 25, 2001.

Born in 1963 to a poor family from a marginalised community in rural UP, Devi endured poverty, injustice and abuse from her child marriage at the age of 11 to a man three times her age. She spent about 11 years in jail for multiple crimes, including murder and kidnapping.

Remembering her as the “warrior of social justice”, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav also tweeted about her valour and bravery. Calling her a great symbol of women’s struggle, he reminded people of her efforts to safeguard “the oppressed, suffering and poor women.”

The 1994 film, ‘Bandit Queen’, starring Seema Biswas in the lead, was made around the time of Phoolan Devi’s release from jail and is inspired by her life.

Widely seen as a champion against casteism and of women’s rights, in 2014 she was ranked fourth on a list of history’s most rebellious women by ‘Time’ magazine.