--- title: Indian Farmer Hangs Himself at Political Rally in New Delhi description: The rally was held to protest reforms by the central government that will negatively impact the agricultural community canonical: https://time.com/3832472/india-delhi-farmer-suicide-hanging-rally-aap/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-23T06:14:17.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T06:36:25.045Z article:section: World og:title: Indian Farmer Hangs Himself at Political Rally og:description: His death was apparently in protest at touted land reforms. og:url: https://time.com/3832472/india-delhi-farmer-suicide-hanging-rally-aap/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8207167efc4790b2/6987ec72f887dca8a7e8e18d/rtx19tw5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Protesters carry a farmer, who hung himself from a tree, towards an ambulance after being released from the tree during a rally organized by Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP), in New Delhi og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Indian Farmer Hangs Himself at Political Rally twitter:description: His death was apparently in protest at touted land reforms. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8207167efc4790b2/6987ec72f887dca8a7e8e18d/rtx19tw5.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Indian Farmer Hangs Himself at Political Rally to Highlight Plight of Rural Poor by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Apr 23, 2015 6:14 AM CUT  Protesters carry a farmer who hung himself from a tree toward an ambulance after being released from the tree during a rally organized by Aam Aadmi Party in New Delhi on April 22, 2015 Protesters carry a farmer who hung himself from a tree toward an ambulance after being released from the tree during a rally organized by Aam Aadmi Party in New Delhi on April 22, 2015Adnan Abidi—Reuters by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Apr 23, 2015 6:14 AM CUT An Indian farmer [hanged himself](http://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/topNews/idINKBN0ND1QM20150422?i=2 "undefined") at a political rally in New Delhi on Wednesday, in an apparent attempt to spotlight the suffering of the country’s impoverished rural citizens as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration throws its weight behind land reforms. The farmer scaled a nearby tree and jumped off one of its limbs at the rally organized by Modi’s rival Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Reuters reported. Farmer suicide is a long-standing problem in India, and the country has seen a rise in reported deaths over the past month as unseasonal rains have ruined crops. The man who died most recently, Gajendra Singh from the western state of Rajasthan, allegedly left a suicide note citing heavy losses. The note, [according](http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/farmers-suicide-at-aap-rally-political-blame-game-begins/ "undefined") to the _Indian Express_, said Singh had three children and had been kicked out of the house by his father after his crops failed. The incident occurred as opposition in the agricultural community rises against a proposed law to simplify the acquisition of farmland for certain kinds of industrial and developmental projects. Singh’s death immediately set off a political blame game, with some AAP politicians, who had gathered to oppose the Modi government’s proposed land reforms, reportedly calling his death a “conspiracy,” and the opposition Congress Party demanding legal action against Modi and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal. The incident will now be probed by police, according to India’s [NDTV news channel](http://www.ndtv.com/cheat-sheet/rajasthan-farmer-hangs-himself-at-aap-rally-in-delhi-10-developments-757373?pfrom=home-lateststories "undefined"). Modi tweeted his condolences on Wednesday evening, saying he was “deeply shattered and disappointed” at Singh’s death. > [](https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/590859876005359617) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3832472/india-delhi-farmer-suicide-hanging-rally-aap/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3832472/india-delhi-farmer-suicide-hanging-rally-aap/"},"headline":"Indian Farmer Hangs Himself at Political Rally to Highlight Plight of Rural Poor","datePublished":"2015-04-23T06:14:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T06:36:25.045Z","description":"The rally was held to protest reforms by the central government that may negatively impact the agricultural community","url":"https://time.com/3832472/india-delhi-farmer-suicide-hanging-rally-aap/","keywords":["Suicide","India","Delhi","rally"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8207167efc4790b2/6987ec72f887dca8a7e8e18d/rtx19tw5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8207167efc4790b2/6987ec72f887dca8a7e8e18d/rtx19tw5.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Protesters carry a farmer, who hung himself from a tree, towards an ambulance after being released from the tree during a rally organized by Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP), in New Delhi","caption":"Protesters carry a farmer, who hung himself from a tree, towards an ambulance after being released from the tree during a rally organized by Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party (AAP), in New Delhi","creditText":"Adnan Abidi—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3832472/india-delhi-farmer-suicide-hanging-rally-aap/","name":"Indian Farmer Hangs Himself at Political Rally to Highlight Plight of Rural Poor"}}]}] ```