Former eunuch Mayor of Gorakhpur dies

Gorakhpur: Eunuch Asha Devi, who had hogged the headlines after being elected as the Mayor of Gorakhpur Municipal Corporation in 2000, died here after a brief illness, family sources said Tuesday.

Devi (61), who was suffering from kidney disorder, passed away late last night. Devi was elected as Gorakhpur Mayor in 2000 civic polls after defeating rival candidates of major political parties with huge margin. She was, however, unseated in 2003 as her election was declared invalid by a local court as the post of the mayor was reserved for a female and Devi was not eligible for the seat. The court gave the judgement on an election petition filed by Samajwadi Party candidate, Anju Chowdhary, who had lost to Devi by over 60,000 votes in the mayoral contest held on November 25, 2000. PTI