Farmer's suicide at AAP rally: As it happened

A man committed suicide at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rally held in the national capital on Wednesday to oppose the Central government's Land Acquisition Bill.

New Delhi: A man committed suicide at the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) rally held here on Wednesday to oppose the Central government's Land Acquisition Bill. Here are the live updates:

• Delhi Police have registered an FIR against unknown persons in connection with the suicide of farmer at AAP rally. The case has been registered under sections 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 306 (Abetment of suicide), 304 A (Causing death by negligence) of Indian Penal Code.

• Arvind Kejriwal preferred to continue his political speech instead of trying to save an Aam Aadmi committing suicide in front of him: Shahnawaz Hussain, BJP national spokesperson.
• "The loss of life of this farmer in distress is an extremely sad incident and no words can fulfil the irreparable loss caused to Gajendra's family," Kejriwal said in a statement.
• Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has offered condolences to the family of Gajendra Singh and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the matter. 

• Just saw the farmer suicide video for the first time. I can't believe the speeches continued while the farmer hanged himself, tweets Omar Abdullah.
• Family of the farmer, who committed suicide at AAP rally, says he was distraught after losing his entire wheat crops to untimely rains.
• I am extremely sorry for my statement. And apologise for that, Ashutosh tweeted.
• Ashutosh has apologised for his sarcastic remark against the farmer's suicide at AAP rally.​

• AAP delegation meets with Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh after farmer's suicide. 
• Arvind Kejriwal culpable as AAP responsible for security of attendees, says BJP.
• Shiv Sena's Sanjay Raut says, "It is very unfortunate that AAP continued the rally ignoring the farmer's suicide."
• At no point must the hardworking farmer think he is alone. We are all together in creating a better tomorrow for the farmers of India: PM.
• "Gajendra’s death has saddened the nation. We are all deeply shattered and disappointed. Condolences to his family," tweets PM Narendra Modi.

• Appeal to Rahul that instead of politicising this matter, we should rather take steps and find solution: Nitin Gadkari.

• Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje terms farmer's suicide at the AAP rally as tragic, saying that prompt action could have saved a precious life. "All necessary steps will be taken, including compensation," she added.

• When questioned by the media as to why Kejriwal addressed the rally after the incident, a sarcastic Ashutosh says, "If next time such an incident takes place, Delhi CM will himself climb the tree and save the person's life."
• When we got to know of man who had climb the tree, Viswas appealed to the police to save the farmer, clarifies Sanjay Singh.
• Ashutosh also says that AAP volunteers took the farmer to the hospital, not the police.
• Police rejected our pleas to save the farmer. AAP workers were the ones who took the man to the hospital: Viswas.
• Viswas says that the news of farmer's death came only after Arvind Kejriwal finished his speech.
• You can criticise us, but at least listen to what the farmer was trying to say, says Viswas.
• After the farmer's suicide at AAP rally, party leaders Ashutosh, Kumar Viswas and Sanjay Singh hold a news conference. 
• We will fight the Land Ordinance. We won't let BJP government just take the land of our poor farmers: Rahul Gandhi.
• Farmers are being punished by the Modi government. Foundation of the country has been laid by the farmers: Rahul Gandhi.
• But we will do what we can: Rahul Gandhi.
• Modi government helps their crony corporates. In Parliament, they said suicides aren't taking place: Rahul Gandhi.
• Want to tell farmers that they shouldn't be afraid, we are with them, says Rahul Gandhi at the Lady Hardinge Hospital where the deceased farmer's body has been brought.
• Aam Aadmi Party workers who were wearing AAP caps helped the farmer climb the tree: Satish Upadhyay
• Blaming police is equal to running away from responsibility. Police should investigate this matter thoroughly, says Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay.
• Deeply pained to hear the news of farmer committing suicide at Jantar Mantar. Have instructed Delhi Police Commissioner to institute an inquiry into it, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
• Rahul Gandhi has arrived at the RML Hospital.
• Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has ordered a probe into the Jantar Mantar suicide incident to be headed by a Joint CP. The development came after Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to the Delhi Police chief.

  

  .@ArvindKejriwal had reached #AAPKisanRally. pic.twitter.com/Vsp3nhFLsC — Aam Aadmi Party (@AamAadmiParty) April 22, 2015

  .@msisodia, @SanjayAzadSln and @DrKumarVishwas at #AAPKisanRally. pic.twitter.com/K9rykwzib2 — Aam Aadmi Party (@AamAadmiParty) April 22, 2015

  Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will address the rally at Jantar Mantar.

  On Tuesday, party leader Sanjay Singh told the media that AAP workers and farmers from across several states, including Odisha, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Haryana and Rajasthan, would gather at Jantar Mantar at 10 am.

  "Kejriwal along with other senior leaders of the party will address the crowd. A procession would then be taken out from the protest site to Parliament," he said.

  Singh, however, said that at the moment it was unclear if Kejriwal would march along.

  Another AAP leader, Kumar Vishwas said the BJP and Congress did not understand the plight of the poor farmers.

  "They are not worried about the loss of farmers due to untimely rains. Both the parties are more concerned about their personal conflicts," he said.

  "We will oppose the land ordinance as it is not in favour of the farmers. We conducted a survey in several states and came to know that the farmers are annoyed with the central government because of this land ordinance," Vishwas said.

  "We demand that land ordinance should be rolled back," he demanded.

  The AAP has formed a six-member committee to organise the protest.

  The Congress held its anti-ordinance farmers' rally on Sunday at the Ramlila Ground.

  • Want to ask AAP, which is more important? Life or politics? - Sambit Patra
  • This is a conspiracy by Chief Minister of Delhi. Knowing very well that he (farmer) was dead you continued with your politics for 74 minutes. I am no one to ask you questions but the people of the country and the world will ask – Sambit Patra 
  • Humanity died right where revolutions took place - Sambit Patra
  • It's very painful to know that politics has become more important than human life, says BJP's Sambit Patra on the Jantar Mantar incident.
  • When rallies happen people usually stand on trees, that's what we thought, says AAP leader Somnath Bharti.  
  • Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will also visit the RML Hospital soon, say reports.
  • AAP leader Dharamvir Gandhi has admitted mistake on their part and said that that his party and its volunteers could have acted more pro-actively.
  • AAP, meanwhile, is crying conspiracy against its rally. AAP leader Bhagwant Mann told Zee Media that despite them asking the police to save the man while he was threatening to commit suicide, the cops did not act.
  • What's more shocking is that the AAP rally continued for nearly an hour after Gajendra committed suicide. Taking the lead in addressing the rally was AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who talks about farmers' issues and distress faced by them.
  • Reports say the farmer who committed suicide at the AAP rally had been threatening to do so since morning. TV visuals showed Gajendra sitting on tree branches with a cloth tied to his neck from one side and to the tree from the other. This shows that Gajendra could have been saved had the police present at the spot and AAP volunteers acted in time.
  • I heard that the rally continued and no one tried to stop or save him - Sachin Pilot
  • I don't want to politicise this but it is sad that such an environment has been created in the nation. It is saddening, says Congress leader Sachin Pilot on the Jantar Mantar incident.
  • Gajendra's body is now being sent for post-mortem, say police sources.
  • RML's chief medical officer has told media that Gajendra, the man who attempted suicide at the AAP rally, was in fact brought dead to the hospital.
  • Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Deputy CM Manish Sisodia have also arrived at the RML Hospital.
  • Congress leader Ajay Maken has arrived at the RML Hospital, where the man who attempted suicide during the AAP rally was admitted.
  • Meanwhile, reports say the man who attempted suicide at the AAP rally has died at the RML Hospital.
  • AAP will raise three points: a) consent of farmer for taking land; b) implementation of Swaminathan report; and c) proper compensation far destroyed crops
  • The Centre should implement the Swaminathan report. I have asked the Chief Secretary to find out if we can implement it in Delhi - Kejriwal
  • The need of the hour is that farmers across the country unite.
  • Why are farmers selling land? Because they don't get good price for their produce.
  • If farmers have been forced to sell their land, that doesn't mean you start snatching land from them - Kejriwal
  • If that's not the case, then this Ordinance was brought for the lobby of the super-rich
  • The country wants to know, was this Ordinance brought to help a stalled project?
  • What was the urgency and emergency behind bringing this Land Ordinance? Was it aimed at helping a super-rich? asks Kejriwal
  • Farmers have also shown that they are against this Ordinance
  • Many parties are agitating against Land Ordinance
  • The BJP government has brought an Ordinance which says that land can be acquired without farmers' consent - Kejriwal
  • Farmers have realised that this government is pro-rich and anti-poor
  • What has happened in one year of Modi government that India's farmer has lost faith in the BJP as well as Narendra Modi - Kejriwal
  • Arvind Kejriwal is now addressing the AAP rally against Land Ordinance.
  • We are taking details of this matter, will comment on it when I get all information, says Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi
  • A news channel has gained access to the suicide letter written by the man who attempted suicide. Gajendra, the youth, wrote in the letter which he threw to the ground from the tree, “I am the son of a farmer. I hail from Nangal Jhalawar in Rajasthan's Dausa. My father kicked me out of the house after my crop got damaged. I have three children but I don't have any work. Tell me how should I go back home.”
  • The man who tried to commit suicide at AAP rally has been admitted to the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in central Delhi.
  • The AAP rally is, meanwhile, continuing as per schedule despite the incident. All prominent AAP leaders are also on the stage.
  • In a shocking development, a youth tried to commit suicide at the venue of AAP's ongoing rally at Jantar Mantar. Reports said the man tried to hang himself from a tree. As soon as he was noticed attempting to commit suicide, AAP volunteers climbed the tree and brought him down. The man has been taken to a hospital in a serious condition.
  • We sill not sit silent, will continue to agitate till this Land Bill is withdrawn, says Sanjay Singh.
  • How can the PM sleep when farmers are committing suicide, asks Kumar Vishwas at the rally.
  • The country needs industries as well as farmers, says AAP's Ashish Khetan.
  • Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal has arrived at the venue of AAP's protest rally against Land Bill.
  • AAP volunteers will help farmers across the country unite and take this movement forward – Gopal Rai
  • AAP leader and Delhi minister Gopal Rai says at the rally at Jantar Mantar that the Delhi government will not make the farmers feel like orphans the way Narendra Modi government has.​
  • Ashutosh says it is funny that news is spread about Arvind Kejriwal not wanting media around, but nobody asks why PM Narendra Modi never takes questions.
  • BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi says the AAP rally is an attempt to divert attention from their internal problems.
  • AAP leader Ashutosh says they are giving a clear warning to government on Land Acquisition Bill. “We will start a nationwide stir if it (the Bill) is forced.”
  • Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, meanwhile, says not even a single amendment for the Land Acquisition Bill is against farmers.
  • Responding to reports that Arvind Kejriwal has asked the police to keep media away from his party's protest rally against the Land Bill, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said, “Communication with government agencies and police are confidential, these can't be discuss in public. Media if identified can go to any function.”
  • Reports say AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal has asked the Delhi Police to keep the media away from the protest site.
  • Farmers from different states are coming to register their protest. If this anti-farmer ordinance is not stopped, then there will be an all-India movement - Ashutosh
  • The BJP government is pursuing anti-farmer policies because they’ve been obliged by industrial houses and now it is time for the Modi government to pay them back. This is why they are trying to force this anti-farmer ordinance as law, says AAP leader Ashutosh
  • News agency ANI has reported that the AAP has called off its proposed march to Parliament to oppose the Narendra Modi government's controversial Land Acquisition Ordinance. The march has been cancelled in view of the Delhi Police denying permission for the march. The rally at Jantar Mantar will, however, go as planned.
  • The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) will on Wednesday hold a rally in the capital to oppose the Central government's Land Acquisition Ordinance.

Successive governments have become mute spectators to farmers plight: in Nation on LockerDome