Phoolan ‘killer’s’ lock,stock,barrel campaign

Rana’s mother Satyawati,dressed in a white sari,is campaigning on her son’s behalf. She is aided by a group named the Rashtrawadi Pratap Sena (RPS). Lalit Rana,who introduced himself as the president of the RPS,said his “NGO is supporting only one candidate in this election”.

At an hour-long election meeting organised by the RPS in Dayanatpur village,over 100 people attended the open-air event. The star campaigner for Rana is a first-year BSc student from Rajasthan’s Udaipur. Unlike other speakers,Ravinder Pal Singh Rathode does not make any bones about his Rajput pride. “I met Ranaji in Delhi when he was brought to the court on February 20. It was a great moment for me. I was inspired by his act when I was in the sixth standard. Ranaji is an avatar of Maharana Pratap,” he told The Indian Express after making a fiery speech. Ravinder,a student of NCA College Udaipur,met RPS activists and offered his services after he saw a Facebook page in support of Rana’s candidature.

Rana is allegedly one of the three masked men who shot former bandit and then Member of Parliament Phoolan Devi on July 25,2001. After his arrest,Rana reportedly claimed that he had shot the Phoolan to avenge her gang’s massacre of 22 Thakur men in UP’s Behmai village in 1981. “My son did not want to contest elections. He made up his mind after the people of Jewar forced him to do so. He now wants to make this region his karma mandal after his release,” said Satyawati. She has constructed a house near Jewar,relocating here from Uttarakhand.

Rana,now 36,has been joined in Tihar by his younger brother Vikram,who helped him escape in 2004. “He [Sher Singh is like God to me…..I have given my sons to the cause of the country,” said Satyawati,who broke into tears several times during the interview. “When elected,he will try to take up social justice in the Assembly. However,fight against corruption and terrorism are his priorities,especially terrorism,” said RPS president Lalit Rana.