Lok Sabha elections 2019: Phoolan Devi's killer Sher Singh Rana can enter a competition from Indore

INDORE: SAPAKS, the upper-caste pressure group in Madhya Pradesh, is planning on fielding Sher Singh Rana — who in 2014 was convicted of killing Phoolan Devi — from Indore.

Rana, who is out on bail since October 2016, had boasted that he murdered Phoolan to avenge the 1981 Behmai massacre in which 28 Rajputs were gunned down. He even claims to have brought back the remains of Prithviraj Chouhan from Afghanistan where he was hiding after escaping from Tihar jail.

SAPAKS says it is fielding Rana, a Rajput, because big parties have always ignored Thakur and Rajput communities while handing out tickets for Indore.

However, SAPAKS will have to cross several legal hurdles before it can field Rana since he has been convicted of murder. “A person can contest elections if the conviction has been stayed by court. However, if the court has granted a suspension of sentence, the person cannot contest elections since the conviction persists,” advocate Vivek Dalal said.

Rana told TOI that his sentence was ‘suspended’ while it was being heard by a higher court. “We are applying in high court for a stay on the sentence. We will move Supreme Court also if relief is not granted,” he said. If permission is denied, SAPAKS plans to field his wife Pratima Raje Rana, a native of Chhatarpur, party sources said.

SAPAKS chief Heeralal Trivedi told TOI, “The party has decided to field Rana from Indore and if all things fall in line, the announcement will be made in a couple of days”. Indore has 4 lakh Thakur-Rajput votes and the organization will rope in leaders of the community from other parts of the state to canvass for Rana, he added.

Rana contested the 2012 election from Jewar assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh, with court permission, but he wasn’t convicted then. He filed his nomination papers from Tihar jail as an independent candidate, and lost the election.

Rana, who launched Rastrawadi Janlok Party (RJP) three months ago to field/support candidates that share his ideology, told TOI. “SAPAKS and RJP have the same ideology. Senior SAPAKS leaders, including Heeralal Trivedi and Jogendra Singh Bhadoriya, unanimously decided to field me in Indore Lok Sabha seat on their symbol,” he said, adding that employment and “irregularities in reservation” are his key issues.

Bhadoriya, who brokered the deal with Rana, said, “Both BJP and Congress have ignored Thakur/Rajput community in ticket distribution from Indore and it has disappointed 4 lakh voters of the community.”

Rana broke out of Tihar Jail in 2004 and claims to have gone to Afghanistan to get back legendary Rajput ruler Prithviraj Chauhan’s remains to India, which he immersed in rivers before surrendering in 2006. He has written a book — ‘Jail Diary: Tihar Se Kabul-Kandhar Tak’ — which he says is being made into a Bollywood movie with a superstar in the lead.

“The movie’s director and my other friends in Bollywood will help in campaigning. There around 20 songs on YouTube on me and they will all be played on my campaign trail,” Rana said.