Rahul Gandhi condoles death of Punjab farmer who met him, blames PM Modi for farmers' distress

New Delhi, June 11: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday condoled the death of a debt-ridden farmer from Punjab who had met him, and blamed the Narendra Modi government for the plight of farmers in the country.

"Extremely sad to hear of the death of Sardar Surjit Singh, who I met when I visited Punjab. My deepest condolences to his family," Gandhi tweeted.

"Farmers in our country are in deep distress. I urge the Modi-Badal government to take action and not continue to ignore their plight," he said, referring to Prime Minister Modi and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Surjit Singh, a 60-year-old debt-ridden farmer, who met the Congress vice president on April 28 after his crops were destroyed by unseasonal rains, committed suicide on Wednesday by consuming poison.

The farmer from Dadumajra village near Chunni Kalan in Fategarh Sahib had a debt of Rs.13.50 lakh. Though he left no suicide note, it is being said he was under depression for quite some time.

Surjit Singh was the same farmer who had briefed Gandhi about the problems of farmers and had even warned that if such problems were not resolved, many farmers might commit suicide.

IANS