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Opposition holds government responsible for Phoolan's murder

Basharat Peer in New Delhi

As security personnel jostled with curious journalists outside the mortuary at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, politicians cutting across party lines thronged to pay their respects to bandit-turned-parliamentarian Phoolan Devi who was killed on Wednesday afternoon.

The non-Bharatiya Janata Party politicians by and large charged the government with having being careless about her security and held it responsible for the murder.

Samajwadi Party general secretary Amar Singh accused the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh of being responsible for the killing, directly or indirectly.

Speaking to the press, he said that ever since Rajnath Singh had occupied the chief minister's office in Uttar Pradesh, Phoolan Devi's security cover had been cut down.

Incidentally, Rajnath Singh had met Phoolan Devi on Tuesday evening at her residence in New Delhi. Phoolan Devi's nephew Santosh, who was brought up by her and lived with her, told rediff.com, "Last evening Rajnath Singhji came home and met 'Mummy'. There were two more persons with him, whom I do not know."

Asked whether they discussed politics, specifically the forthcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election, he said, "Nahin, kuch ghar ki baat ho rahee thee."

Former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who reached the mortuary straight from a hospital where he was undergoing treatment for his kidney problem, said it was the failure of the agencies responsible for assessing security threats and providing cover.

He criticised the government subtly, saying it was for the government to decide how much security a person should get, but the end result should be proper cover.

Referring to her days as a bandit, Singh said that whatever her past, she was clearly working for the people, otherwise she would not have won two elections. He also praised her human side, saying she had volunteered to donate her kidney to him when he was in need of a transplant.

On the other hand, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party vice-president Mayawati held the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh directly responsible for the murder, calling it a grave security lapse. She, however, refused to speculate whether the killing could have had any connection with the forthcoming election in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav and former prime minister Chandra Shekhar also decried the killing as a major security lapse.

All the politicians were unanimous in demanding a high-level inquiry into the killing and strict punishment for the murderers.

Other political bigwigs to visit the mortuary were Home Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, Tourism Minister Ananth Kumar, Information and Broadcasting Minister Sushma Swaraj, Lok Sabha Speaker G M C Balayogi and Deputy Speaker P M Sayeed.

But none of them spoke to the press, maintaining a stony silence in spite of the many questions fired at them by the milling reporters.

The Phoolan Devi murder: The complete coverage

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