Headlines
Farmer's suicide at AAP rally triggers blame game
New Delhi, April 22
The suicide by a
Rajasthani farmer during an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rally here on
Wednesday triggered a blame-game among political parties.
The AAP
blamed Delhi Police for not acting in time to save the farner's life,
and along with the Congress took a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) government over farmers' plight.
The BJP questioned the AAP's logic of continuing the rally despite a tragedy at the event.
AAP
leader Kumar Vishwas said that Delhi Police did not react in time to
save the farmer, Gajendra Singh, who hanged himself from a tree at AAP's
farmers' rally here on Wednesday.
Vishwas said he and other AAP
leaders, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, started asking police
to bring down the farmer from the tree but to no avail.
"Police
did not play their role properly. Police should have made efforts to
save Gajendra Singh's life. It were AAP activists who put their lives at
risk and brought him down and took him to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital,"
he said.
Singh was declared brought dead at the hospital.
Vishwas said it was a very unfortunate moment and reflected the sad state of farmers in the country.
"Gajendra's
decision to take this extreme step reveals the plight of thousands of
farmers whose crops have been damaged and who are now facing the danger
of acquisition of their land," he said.
Asked why the rally was
not stopped despite the suicide incident, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said:
"If we had stopped the rally, there would have been a stampede or other
law and order problems. We asked people to remain calm."
Describing
as "wrong" the AAP's allegation that the police personnel did not save
the farmer at the rally, Delhi Police said they were probing the
incident.
"We will be in a position to say anything only after
the inquiry is completed," Joint Commissioner of Police Mukesh Kumar
Meena said.
The BJP sought to know from the AAP its logic of continuing with the rally despite the farmer's death.
"Why
didn't the AAP leaders stop the farmer from committing suicide?" said
BJP spokesman Sambit Patra. "Even as they knew that he (the farmer)
committed suicide, the Delhi chief minister continued with his speech."
Congress
vice president Rahul Gandhi, who visited the Lady Hardinge Hospital on
Wednesday where the body of the farmer was brought for autopsy, said:
"The farmers are being punished by the (Narendra) Modi government. It is
a government that heads the corporates of this country... is fully
focused on helping them."
"And this is causing tremendous pain and damage to the farmers and labourers of this country," he added.
Congress
leader Sachin Pilot said it was "shocking" how farmers were killing
themselves in the absence of proper compensation for their destroyed
crops. "It's shameful that farmers are forced to take their lives in
absence of financial support when in need."
"It's not about
Gajender Singh alone; it's about all those who either tried to commit
suicide or have committed it," Pilot added.