Farmer Gajendra Singh, who committed suicide on Wednesday, reportedly owned 17 bighas of land in Rajasthan and never claimed any compensation from the State Government. The village chief, however, says he did not claim compensation as the land was leased to him.
Family members and friends remembered the 43-year-old, father-of-three as politically ambitious, having unsuccessfully tried twice — in 2008 and 2013 — to fight the Assembly elections as a Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate. After that, he wanted to join the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). After his failed forays into politics, Gajendra tried his hand at making a living out of tying colourful, Rajasthani turbans on tourists at hotels. The price of turbans ranged from Rs430 and went up to Rs600.
He made Bill Clinton, Murli Manohar Joshi, Atar Bihari Vajpayee, Rajnath Singh, Shahnawaz Hussain and Ashish Nehra wear turbans in the past, as per his profession. Singh used to take orders from marriage parties for developing all type of turbans. Dhoti, shirts and turban were also available on rent. Interestingly, all types of turban will delivered after made.
Situated on the edge of this Rajput-dominated village, Gajendra’s single-storey, pucca house is fairly large. In front of it sprawled the family farmstead. On one side of the farm, is a gooseberry orchard, on the other a plantation of teak. In between, is a patch of wheat field that completed a picture of a well-to-do farming household.
The eldest of three brothers, Gajendra studied up to Class XII. He married early. His eldest child is a daughter studying in Class XII; his two other boys are aged 7 and 10 — none of them know that their father is dead. In 2010, Gajendra — a well-built man with a flourishing beard and an ornate turban — won the Mr Desert title, a Rajasthani cultural pageant.