New Delhi: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal Friday apologised for failing to call off his rally and making a speech after a farmer committed suicide at the venue of his rally on Wednesday.
Gajendra Singh, 42, hanged himself on a tree in front of thousands at a rally organised by Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to protest the federal government’s contentious Land Acquisition Bill.
“I think I was wrong. I should not have spoken. I did not think of it at that time. I apologise if I hurt anyone ... I could not sleep because despite me being there, I could not do anything,” Kejriwal said.
Delhi Police has named AAP in the first information report (FIR) for abetting suicide and disrupting public services to rescue the victim. The victim’s family has said that it suspected political conspiracy.
Kejriwal had initially blamed Delhi Police for being mute spectators and doing nothing to bring down the victim, who had come from Rajasthan to attend the rally.
AAP showed its insensitive side with its spokesman Ashutosh saying, “if something like this happens in the future I would ask Arvind [Kejriwal] to climb the trees and save the person. Ashutosh has since apologised for his remark and broke down when confronted by the victim’s daughter on a television channel on Friday.
“I am your sinner. I was present on the stage and still could not save him. We have not slept in the night. There is a lot of pain,” Ashutosh told the victim’s daughter Megha, 17, when she asked him why AAP leaders continued with their speeches even after her father hanged himself.
Kejriwal defended himself on Friday by saying the tree where Singh hanged himself as at some distance and he could not see what was happening.
“The tree was at a distance from the stage. What was happening near the tree was not visible from the stage. We could not make an announcement otherwise everyone would have rushed towards that side ... No one thought that someone would take such a drastic step else I am sure the police would have helped him,” Kejriwal said.
The AAP government in Delhi has announced a compensation of Rs1 million (Dh57,767) for the victim’s family. Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh visited the victim’s family at Nangal Jhamarwada village in Dausa district of Rajasthan trying to convince them that AAP workers did their best in trying to save him and that they had no role to play in that unfortunate incident. The victim’s family appeared unconvinced and demanded probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and a government job for a relative.
Faced with criticism, Kejriwal appeared sombre when he spoke om Friday, seeking to end the blame game that started when AAP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accusing each other of responsibility for the incident and the Congress party targeting both rivals who are in power in Delhi and at the centre respectively.
“There should be no blame game. If I speak, people will say I am doing politics, if I don’t, they will question me for not speaking ... Let’s not blame each other and say all policemen are bad. The police are investigating, the district magistrate is investigating. Hang whoever is guilty,” the Delhi chief minister said.
