AAP reaches out to farmer's family

Delhi's ruling AAP on Friday reached out to the family of a farmer here who committed suicide at a party rally in the national capital.

Aam Aadmi Party leader Sanjay Singh, a confidant of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, visited Gajendra Singh's distraught family a day after he was cremated.

Emerging after meeting the family members, Sanjay Singh told the media that they had demanded "martyr's status" for Gajendra Singh and employment to a member of his family from the Delhi government.

"I will convey these to Kejriwal. The matter will be considered most sympathetically by the Delhi government," Sanjay Singh said. He declined to answer further questions.

It was the first meeting between AAP leaders and the victim's family who had the preceding two days bitterly attacked the party for not doing enough to save Gajendra Singh.

Gajendra Singh hanged himself from a tree on Wednesday at a rally in the heart of the capital called by the AAP to denounce the land ordinance.

Delhi Police had accused AAP activists of instigating the farmer to commit suicide and of preventing the police from coming to his help.

The AAP denied the charges, and instead accused Delhi Police of not acting quickly to save the man who was rushed to a hospital by AAP activists.

Also on Friday, Kejriwal apologized for not halting his speech after coming to know of the incident but maintained that the man was alive when he was brought down by the tree. He was declared dead in hospital. - IANS