Seema Parihar (right) in a scene from Wounded

Mirzapur, April 30: Bullets and bloodshed left far behind, a former woman dacoit from Chambal is looking to repeat history.

Eleven years after Phoolan Devi was elected to Parliament from Mirzapur, Seema Parihar wants to step into her shoes.

Sporting a pink salwar kurta and sunglasses, the 37-year-old Indian Justice Party (IJP) candidate rushes from one village to another, promising to carry on Phoolan’s legacy.

“Aap mujhe Phoolan Devi ka adhura kaam karne ka mauka dijiye (Give me a chance to complete the unfinished works of Phoolan Devi),” she says at a rally in Lalganj.

But the villagers don’t see her as Phoolan’s replacement.

“She (Seema) cannot be a bandit queen. There was only one queen and she is no more,” declares Naththulal Kebat.

Ratanmani Singh, a 23-year-old student of Mirzapur College, has an epithet for her. “We can at best call her a wounded queen. She has acted in a film with that name.”

Seema’s induction in active politics coincided with the release of Wounded, a film based on her life, in early March this year, when she was made a member of the IJP and offered a ticket from Mirzapur. The seat had been vacated when BSP MP Narendra Kushwaha lost his membership after he was caught in the cash-for-questions scam. The poll is scheduled for May 3.

“Though she lived the life of a dacoit and operated from Chambal, she was never a criminal by nature. Otherwise, she would not have returned to the mainstream. When she was kidnapped by dacoits, she was only 13 and things were beyond her control,” says IJP chief Udit Raj, who fielded her from Mirzapur. “She is another victim of social turmoil in the ravines.”

A resident of Bawain village in Auraiya district, Seema is trying to tug at heartstrings with her story of exploitation.

At Sirsi, a backward caste village in the constituency, Seema broke down as she narrated how she was tortured by some dacoits. Her main targets are women voters.

“I am insecure. I am haunted by the fear of what happened to Phoolan Devi. My brother was recently killed by police in an encounter in Ghaziabad. I don’t know what is in store for me. But I will fight on,” she says to women in another village.

Seema was kidnapped by dacoit Lala Ram in 1983. In 1989, Seema formed her own gang with 17 members. She surrendered in 2001 and spent three years in jail.

“When you are 13, you are not supposed to be aware of what is right and what is wrong. But ever since I came to my senses, I wanted to leave the world of crime,” she says.

Seema’s story might be similar to Phoolan’s, but there is a crucial difference. While Phoolan belonged to a backward caste, Seema is a Thakur.

But the former bandit on the political block is apparently not into caste politics. She says that if she loses the election, she will continue to work for the poor women in Mirzapur. “Women have only one caste. That is, they are women.”