Farmer's suicide: BJP, AAP are playing politics, says Congress

Delhi: The Congress on Thursday blamed both AAP and the BJP of playing politics over the suicide of a farmer at a Jantar Mantar rally.

Addressing the press, Congress leader RPN Singh said that they were not satisfied by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply in Parliament today over the tragic matter.

“The Home Minister has spoken nothing about judicial enquiry. Did not answer any questions. PM did not speak anything too. He only condoled the death and said nothing. PM does not speak in Parliament, where laws are made. He only makes big speeches outside the Parliament,” he said, adding, “The Congress party has given an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on the farmer suicide in AAP rally.”

“Both BJP and AAP are playing politics on farmer suicide. Gajendra Singh's brother told the media that he spoke to Manish Sisodia. Our leader Kharge ji has demanded a judicial enquiry into the matter,” he further said.

Singh also raised the issue of Land Bill saying that the Congress party was wanted a rollback of the Land Acquisition Act.

Escalating the blame game over yesterday's suicide by a farmer at Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's rally, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today slammed AAP supporters for "clapping and raising slogans" as the man inched closer to death, while the latter hit back, saying he was "lying".

"The crowd was clapping. Police requested them to stop raising slogans. Generally, such people (who try to end their lives) are engaged in talks to turn their mind but here the crowd kept clapping and raising slogans," Singh said, responding to an impromptu debate on the matter in Lok Sabha, as per PTI.

The Minister also defended Delhi police, facing the accusation of doing nothing to prevent the shocking incident, saying it took prompt steps to tackle the situation by calling the police control room and seeking help from the fire brigade to bring Gajendra Singh down from the tree he had perched himself on.

41-year-old Singh, a distressed farmer from a village in Dausa in Rajasthan, had ended his life by hanging himself from a tree at a rally by AAP to protest the land ordinance. In a note scribbled by him that he dropped from his precarious perch, Singh had said he was thrown out of his home by his father after crop loss.

In the line of fire for showing "utter sensitivity" with its top leaders going ahead with their speeches even after the man had died, AAP alleged that Singh was "lying".

"Home Minister is lying and giving misleading statements. It is the Union government's ploy to target AAP using the Delhi Police. Media recorded the incident as it happened and should put out the tapes in public to establish the truth," party spokesperson Sanjay Singh said.

"You must have seen that we were requesting the police to rescue him. Please show the truth as to whether we have incited anyone. At least tell the truth on the floor of the house," senior AAP leader Kumar Vishwas said.

The leaders, however, parried questions about news reports that the farmer was invited to the rally by Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police has accused the Aam Aadmi Party and its leaders of having instigated Rajasthan farmer Gajender Singh into committing suicide and putting all sorts of obstacles in their efforts to rescue him.

It has also dismissed the magisterial probe ordered by the Delhi Government saying that it has no jurisdiction in the matter.

The police said in its FIR that neither the workers nor the leader cooperated with it.

"This is totally an incident where AAP workers and leaders instigated the man to commit suicide and they also did not pay heed to requests made by police," says the FIR.

The FIR was registered under Section 306 (Abetement of suicide), 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 34 (common intention) of IPC in Parliament Street Police Station.

The two-page FIR, filed on the complaint of S S Yadav, an inspector who was on duty at the rally venue, read "Around 12:50 PM, when AAP leaders were delivering speeches, he saw some people looking upward toward a tree and clapping where a man was waving a broom. I informed the control room on wireless and asked AAP workers and others not to instigate him and help us to bring him down."

But neither the AAP leaders on stage nor the workers on the ground cooperated, the FIR alleged.

(With Agency inputs)