A 36-year-old farmer died in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna after posting a video about the alleged fertilizer black marketing with the Opposition Congress claiming he died by suicide and was cremated without a postmortem under pressure from the administration. The authorities maintained the farmer died of an illness.

In the video, which went viral on social media on Monday, the farmer is purportedly heard saying he was standing in a queue and did not get fertilizer. “The government rate for DAP [diammonium phosphate] is ₹1,350 per bag but people were buying it based on Aadhar cards of toddlers and selling it to us for ₹3,000.”

He said the fertilizers should be given based on the land of farmers. “A huge fraud is happening. The distribution of fertilizer should be done through the government. There should be no discrimination among farmers and there should be no fighting.”

Opposition and farmer organisations accused the government of failing to provide fertilizers, which claimed the farmer’s life. Former Union minister and Congress leader Arun Yadav alleged the farmer died by suicide. “The farmer died of suicide as he was not getting fertilizer. The family cremated the body without postmortem on Monday under pressure of district administration.”

Farmer leader Rahul Raj said the farmer was moving from pillar to post to get fertilizer. “[He] died as he was under pressure for not getting fertilizer. The farmers have been facing crises since October but the state government failed to provide fertilizers. The sowing season of wheat and gram is about to get over but farmers are standing in queues [for fertilizers].”

District collector Satendra Singh said the farmer was ill. “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,” he said.

Singh said the farmer suffered chest pain and was taken to a private hospital in Guna where he was declared dead. He cited the video and said the farmer accused officials of not distributing fertilizers properly due to a shortage. Singh said police recorded statements from the farmer’s family members who said he was ill.

The farmer’s son said his father died due to illness and some family members spread the rumour of suicide. “But it is also true that he was upset as he did not get any fertilizer.”

Farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been protesting over the storage of DAP. Against the demand of 10 lakh MT, only half of the fertilizer has been distributed.