A farmer from Rajasthan, Gajender Singh Rajput, committed suicide at AAP's kisan rally in Delhi (Press Trust of India photo)
A farmer from Rajasthan hanged himself in front of thousands of people at an Aam Aadmi Party rally in Delhi, including Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who later battled sharp criticism for not stopping the event after the death.
Before killing himself,
Gajender Singh from Dausa district threw a suicide note at the crowd, in which he said he had suffered failed crops and was unable to feed his three children anymore.
AAP had called the rally at the city's Jantar Mantar, just a km from Parliament, to protest against the Centre's proposal to make it easier to buy farmland for development projects.
41-year-old Gajender, who had contested the 2003 Rajasthan election, caught the crowd's attention by balancing precariously on a tree, shouting and waving a broom. An AAP worker and others climbed after him urging him to come down.
The tree was just 40 steps from the stage where Mr Kejriwal and his deputy Manish Sisodia were seated. In visuals, people were seen focusing mainly on the stage, their cheers and claps drowning out Gajendra's voice.
Within moments, Gajendra had hung himself using his white scarf, as the crowd watched in horror. He fell to the ground and was immediately taken to the RML hospital, where he was declared dead.
"We thought it was drama. It was all over before anyone could react," said a witness.
About 20 minutes after the man was taken away, Mr Kejriwal told the crowd, "I kept telling the police to save him but they did nothing."
The home ministry has asked the Delhi Police to investigate what happened.
Scores of debt-laden farmers have allegedly committed suicide in recent weeks after massive damage to their crops from unseasonal rain.
As politics exploded over the suicide, Mr Kejriwal was accused of egregious insensitivity.
"We want to ask why AAP didn't stop their speeches when they heard that the farmer had died," said BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
"Delhi government does not want to engage in any blame game," Mr Kejriwal said, adding that he would do "everything to find out how the incident took place in full public view."