Bhopal: Hours after posting a video about alleged fertiliser black marketing, a 36-year-old farmer died in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna.
Did he commit suicide or was he suffering from an illness?
The video, which went viral on social media on Monday, shows the farmer saying he was standing in a queue but did not get fertiliser. “The government rate for DAP (diammonium phosphate) is Rs 1,350 per bag but people were buying it based on Aadhar cards of toddlers and selling it to us for Rs 3,000.”
Alleging a fraud, he said fertilisers should be given based on the land of farmers.
“A huge fraud is happening. The distribution of fertiliser should be done through the government. There should be no discrimination among farmers and there should be no fighting,” the MP farmer said.
Soon after the news of his death spread, a political finger-pointing broke out in the BJP-ruled state.
While the authorities maintained the farmer died due to an illness, Congress claimed he had committed suicide and was cremated without a postmortem under pressure from the administration.
Opposition parties and farmer organisations accused the Mohan Yadav-headed state government of failing to provide fertilisers, leading to the farmer claiming his life.
“The farmer died of suicide as he was not getting fertiliser. The family cremated the body without postmortem on Monday under pressure of district administration,” said former Union minister and Congress leader Arun Yadav.
Farmer leader Rahul Raj said the farmer was moving from pillar to acquire fertiliser.
“He died as he was under pressure for not getting fertiliser. The farmers have been facing crises since October but the state government failed to provide fertilisers. The sowing season of wheat and gram is about to get over but farmers are standing in queues,” said Raj.
District collector Satendra Singh, on the other hand, said: “He was admitted to a private hospital in Indore on November 13. Due to a blood clot in his head, the doctor asked him to undergo surgery but his family got him discharged.”
Singh added that the farmer suffered chest pain and was taken to a private hospital in Guna where he was declared dead.