Lucknow, Oct 13 (PTI) Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo Akhilesh Yadav met bandit-turned-politician Phoolan Devi's mother to seek her blessings on Wednesday.

After reaching Jalaun during his "Vijay Rath Yatra", Yadav saw Phoolan's mother Moola Devi. He got off the vehicle and touched her feet.

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Video clips of the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister seeking Moola Devi's blessings were shared with the media.

Phoolan Devi's mother whispered something in Yadav's ear, a senior SP leader said, adding that she gave him her blessings for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

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SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav had withdrawn cases against Phoolan Devi, popularly known as "Bandit Queen", and later, ensured her entry into politics.

In 1996, Phoolan Devi became an MP from the Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh and was re-elected in 1999.

In 2001, she was shot dead outside her Delhi residence. The former MP was popular among the Most Backward Castes (MBCs) in Mirzapur and other parts of eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Phoolan Devi was born into the Nishad (boatmen) caste in 1963 in Ghura Ka Purwa village of Jalaun district.

The SP's backward caste wing recently tried to install her statue in Raebareli but was not given permission.

The move to eulogise Phoolan Devi was seen as an attempt to consolidate the votes of the Nishad community after the Nishad Party broke its alliance with the SP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)