Kejriwal apologizes, AAP reaches out to farmer's family (Roundup)

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he erred by not stopping his speech at a party rally in the national capital where a Rajasthani farmer killed himself, even as he and the AAP reached out to the distraught family.

The Wednesday suicide, which has pitted Kejriwal's government and Delhi Police against one another, sparked national outrage after Gajendra Singh dramatically hanged himself from a tree at an AAP rally against the land ordinance.

Gajendra Singh's family demanded a CBI probe into the death. "We want a CBI probe... a fair probe. We have conveyed it to Rajasthan Health Minister Rajendra Singh Rathore," Gopal Singh, the victim's uncle, told IANS.

Rathore visited Nangal Jhamarwara village and handed them a cheque of Rs.4 lakh on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The family demanded that Gajendra Singh's daughter Megha, a Class 12 student, be given admission to the Maharani College in Jaipur after she clears her board exam.

And in a bid to dilute the attacks on the Aam Aadmi Party, Kejriwal telephoned Gajendra Singh's uncle and promised "best possible help" to the distraught family.

Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh meanwhile called on the grieving family a day after Gajendra Singh was cremated and handed a Rs.10 lakh cheque from the party.

Emerging after meeting the family members at Dausa, Sanjay Singh told journalists that they demanded a "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.

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

Gajendra Singh hanged himself in front of some 4,000 people. He left behind what police first said was a suicide note but his family said the handwriting was not his.

Delhi Police has 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 hospital by AAP activists.

Delhi Police, which reports to the union home ministry, has also refused to join a magisterial inquiry ordered by the Delhi government.

Kejriwal admitted that he should not have continued with his speech against the land ordinance after the incident but pointed out that he was to originally speak for an hour but spoke only for 10-15 minutes.

"I think that was my mistake. Probably I should not have spoken. If that has hurt anyone's sentiments, I would like to apologize," the AAP founder leader told ANI.

"I am guilty. Blame me," he said. "But please focus on the real issue of the farmers and desist from politicking."

Other political parties still slammed him.

BJP leader and Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said: "An apology isn't enough. Can't make the farmer a spectacle, can't dramatize a suicide scene."

Congress leader Anand Sharma said: "An apology is not enough. He (chief minister) did not do what he should have done."

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati said: "By apologizing, the farmer will not come back to life."

Kejriwal insisted that the "real truth" behind the episode would be known only after an inquiry.

"I don't think anybody present would have thought that a person would commit suicide. When (he was brought) down, he was still alive."