Editing Phoolan Devi (section)

==Political career==
Charges against Phoolan Devi were dropped in 1994 by order of [[Mulayam Singh Yadav]], the leader of the [[Samajwadi Party]] and Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.<ref name="Butalia">{{cite news |last1=Butalia |first1=Pankaj |title=Phoolan Devi: From travesty to tragedy |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/article_436jsp/ |access-date=20 December 2022 |work=Open Democracy |date=29 August 2001 |language=en |archive-date=20 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220172024/https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/article_436jsp/ |url-status=live }}</ref> After her release from prison, she joined the Samajwadi Party and in the [[1996 Indian general election|1996 general election]] took a seat in the Indian lower legislative body, the [[Lok Sabha]], as the Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Mirzapur Lok Sabha constituency|Mirzapur]] in Uttar Pradesh.<ref name="Shotdead" /> She won with a margin of 37,000 and had more than 300,000 votes in total. She was not the only illiterate MP, joining others such as [[Bhagwati Devi]] and Shobhawati Devi.<ref name="Moxham-Chapter5" /> Phoolan Devi campaigned with limited success for the rights of women and to provide better amenities for the poor.<ref name="Insurgents" />{{rp|251}} She told author [[Roy Moxham]] "I want to bring hospitals, schools, electricity and clean water to the poor in the villages. To stop child marriage and to improve life for women."<ref name="Moxham-Chapter5" /> Mallah people were happy to have someone of their caste representing them in parliament for the first time and she was generally popular among Other Backward Classes.<ref name="OI22">{{cite news |last1=Ashraf |first1=Asad |title=Twenty two years after Phoolan Devi's murder, 'Bandit Queen' remains a divisive figure in Mirzapur |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/national/22-years-after-phoolan-devi-s-murder-bandit-queen-remains-a-divisive-figure-in-mirzapur-news-185795 |access-date=7 May 2023 |work=Outlook India |date=8 March 2022 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412071013/https://www.outlookindia.com/national/22-years-after-phoolan-devi-s-murder-bandit-queen-remains-a-divisive-figure-in-mirzapur-news-185795 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Kanpur#Law_and_order|Kanpur District Court]] set aside Yadav's pronouncement, which reinstated the charges against her in connection with the Behmai massacre. This decision was upheld by the [[Allahabad High Court]].<ref name="Mallick">{{cite news |last1=Mallick |first1=Sarmeeli |title=Mulayam Singh Yadav's masterstrokes that proved his mettle in Indian politics |url=https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/in-focus/mulayam-singh-yadav-special-story-masterstrokes-that-proved-his-mettle-in-indian-politics-article-94757715 |access-date=7 May 2023 |work=Times Now |date=10 October 2022 |language=en |archive-date=10 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010083826/https://www.timesnownews.com/mirror-now/in-focus/mulayam-singh-yadav-special-story-masterstrokes-that-proved-his-mettle-in-indian-politics-article-94757715 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1996, Phoolan Devi lost a [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court]] appeal to have the charges against her dropped. The following year, the court approved a request from Uttar Pradesh to arraign her on charges related to the Behmai massacre and she did not attend the court hearing in [[Kanpur]]. After several months of legal machinations, the Supreme Court ruled that Phoolan Devi did not need to be jailed before trial.<ref name="Moxham-Chapter6">{{cite book |last1=Moxham |first1=Roy |title=Outlaw: India's Bandit Queen and me |date=2010 |publisher=Rider| location=London |isbn=978-1-84604-182-2 |chapter=Chapter 6 |edition=Ebook}}</ref> She lost her seat to [[Virendra Singh (Mirzapur)|Virendra Singh]], the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP) candidate in the [[1998 Indian general election|1998 elections]], then regained it the [[1999 Indian general election|following year]].<ref name="Telegraph-obit">{{cite news |title=Phoolan Devi |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1335253/Phoolan-Devi.html |access-date=17 December 2022 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=26 July 2001 |archive-date=17 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221217185955/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1335253/Phoolan-Devi.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Moxham-Chapter6"/><ref name="ShotD">{{cite news  |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Phoolan Devi Shot D |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/a-hrefhttpwwwoutlookindiacompti_coverageaspgid45-phoolan-devi-shot-d/212701 |access-date=17 November 2023 |work=Outlook India |date=25 July 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115230055/https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/a-hrefhttpwwwoutlookindiacompti_coverageaspgid45-phoolan-devi-shot-d/212701 |archive-date=15 January 2018}}</ref>

Phoolan Devi married Umed Singh in 1994; they appeared together in a film, called ''Sholay Aur Chingari'' (''Blazing Fires and Sparks'').<ref name="knot">{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Bandit Queen ties knot with politician Umed Singh |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/19940815-bandit-queen-ties-knot-with-politician-umed-singh-809505-1994-08-14 |access-date=10 November 2023 |work=India Today |date=15 August 1994 |language=en |archive-date=10 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110190916/https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/eyecatchers/story/19940815-bandit-queen-ties-knot-with-politician-umed-singh-809505-1994-08-14 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Butalia" /> Together with her new husband, she became a [[Buddhist]], aiming to evade the Hindu [[Caste system in India|caste system]].<ref name="Insurgents" />{{rp|251}} According to Moxham, she later renounced Buddhism.<ref name="Moxham-Chapter4">{{cite book |last1=Moxham |first1=Roy |title=Outlaw: India's Bandit Queen and me |date=2010 |publisher=Rider| location=London |isbn=978-1-84604-182-2 |chapter=Chapter 4 |edition=Ebook}}</ref>