Nagpur:
A farmer in Maharashtra, who was also a member of the ruling BJP, allegedly committed suicide on Tuesday by electrocuting himself at his farm in Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' home district.
Chandrashekhar Mahajan went to his five-acre Soyabean farm this morning, opened a high tension distribution box and allegedly touched the live wires to end his life.
The 45-year-old farmer was reportedly worried about repaying a Rs 2 lakh loan after the failure of his crop because of erratic rain. He and other farmers in the region also blamed long six-hour power cuts for poor crop.
Mr Mahajan was a prominent BJP worker and a resident of the Kuhi Mandhal village, which is about a two-hour drive from Mr Fadnavis' hometown Nagpur.
Today's suicide adds to the grim statistics in Maharashtra's Vidarbha region, which has come to be known as India's suicide capital. In the past 20 years, some 60,000 farmers have killed themselves in the region, with reports of a suicide every eight hours even till two years ago.
Today's suicide is the first reported after the Fadnavis government took charge a month ago.
Reports suggest 19,000 villages across the state are suffering drought like conditions. The crisis was raised in the state assembly but was lost in political sparring.
"Instead of discussing the shortcomings of the Congress, the government should discuss farmers' problems," said Chhagan Bhujbal of the NCP, which co-governed Maharashtra with the Congress for 15 years.
The BJP's Ashish Shelar said, "The Opposition should discuss the issue of farmers committing suicide. They are busy disrupting house."