President, PM condole death

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 25. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today condoled the death of Ms. Phoolan Devi. Condemning the criminal act, he urged all sections of the polity to stand united in the fight against criminalisation of politics.

In his condolence message, the Prime Minister said, ``Ms. Phoolan Devi will be remembered for her struggle to uplift the backward classes''. Expressing shock at her brutal killing, he said: ``In her death, India has lost a representative of the rights of the poor and the downtrodden and a votary of social justice.''

Further, Mr. Vajpayee recalled how Ms. Phoolan Devi had twice won the people's mandate to represent them in the Lok Sabha ``in which she served as a member of the Committee on Labour and Welfare''.

The President, Mr. K. R. Narayanan, expressed shock at the death of Ms. Phoolan Devi, whose life, he said, was a story of rebellion and successful defiance against oppression and exploitation.

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