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Amid tearful scenes, the mortal remains of slain Samajwadi Party MP Phoolan Devi were consigned to flames on Thursday evening with the party overriding her mother's wish to have the cremation in Delhi.
Shouts of 'Phoolan Devi Amar Rahe' rent the air as thousand of mourners bid adieu to the 38-year-old former 'Bandit Queen' at the Choubepur Ghat on the banks of river Ganga.
People raised slogans against Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Home Minister L K Advani and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Rajnath Singh at the funeral, attended, among others, by SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav and general secretary Amar Singh.
Phoolan's mother Mula Devi told reporters in Delhi that she wanted her daughter to be cremated in Delhi.
However, Mulayam Singh insisted that the funeral be held in Mirzapur, Phoolan's constituency. When asked about her mother's wish, Singh retorted: "Samajwadi Party is Phoolan's biggest family."
Watched by moist-eyed mourners of a constituency that was twice represented by Phoolan in the Lok Sabha, husband Umed Singh lit the pyre.
Braving pouring rains, mourners had started gathering at the ghat since morning and by noon the place was chock-a-block.
A heavy police force, besides nine companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary, was deployed to maintain order.
The police used mild force to scatter Samajwadi Party activists who stoned passing vehicles. Some trucks and buses were damaged in the stone-pelting.
PTI
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