It doesn't get worse than this. Indian lives are notoriously cheap, those of farmers even more so. Yet even when a man has committed suicide in front of thousands at a rally in the middle of Delhi, Indian politicians are still unable to put aside their instinctive urge to score points no matter what the issue is. On Wednesday, Gajendra Singh, a farmer from Rajasthan attempted to hang himself at a kisan rally being conducted by the Aam Aadmi Party. By afternoon, Singh, who had been rushed to a hospital, was declared dead.

Before the death had even been announced, the Indian political machine had started to crank and sputter, emitting the kinds of foul statements and allegations that come along with any such event. News that Singh had indeed succumbed to his injuries didn't stop them in their tracks – in fact, it made things worse.

First the Aam Aadmi Party blamed the police. Then Congress blamed the Aam Aadmi Party. Then the Bharatiya Janata Party jumped on board, holding a press conference to insist the Delhi Chief Minister was to blame. Then an AAP leader implied that the was a conspiracy. Meanwhile, politicians rushed to the hospital to meet with the farmers' relatives, all the while insisting that the death shouldn't be political. And it has only gotten worse from there. Barely, in the middle of all of this, is there any recognition of the story at the heart of the matter: a person killing himself in broad daylight right under the noses of India's leaders.

How it unfolded

Around 2 pm, as AAP's rally against the Land Acquisition Amendment Ordinance got going, news emerged that a man had tried to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree at the rally in Delhi's Jantar Mantar.

He reportedly threw down a letter from the tree explaining his suicide attempt.

It didn't take long, however for the first shot in the blame game began.

Blamer: Arvind Kejriwal, AAP
Blamed: Delhi Police
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal blamed the police for not saving the man, without missing an opportunity to air his standard political gripe about the police not being under his control. "In front of our eyes, he (the farmer) climbed a tree. We had been continuously telling the police to save the man. Even though the police is not under our control, at least they should have had the humanity to save the farmer," he said.

Delhi Police didn't respond, with the commissioner simply saying that he would look into the issue.

Blamer: Sachin Pilot, Congress
Blamed: Arvind Kejriwal, AAP
Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot first said that he didn't want to politicise the issue, but happily would do so. Pilot said that AAP leaders had decided to go on with their rally, instead of attempting to save Singh. "I heard that the rally continue and no one tried to stop or save him," Pilot said, even admitting that his attack was based entirely on hearsay. "Saving a person's life is far more important than making a political speech. The fact that AAP leaders didn't try preventing the suicide speaks volumes about the people who claim to fight for farmers."

Blamer: Sambit Patra, BJP
Blamed: Arvind Kejriwal, AAP
BJP spokesperson went a step further than Pilot, by calling a press conference and giving out a "heartfelt" statement about the issue, claiming Kejriwal knew this was going to happen. "This is a conspiracy. You (Kejriwal) knew very well that the man had who climbed the tree was going to commit suicide. But you played politics over his dead body," said Patra. "Is your career more important than a person's life? I am a doctor. I know how painful his death must have been," he said, belatedly adding that this is not the time to play petty politics.

Blamer: Somnath Bharti, AAP
Blamed: Delhi Police, "conspiracy"
At this point, the blame game was starting to come full circle. AAP leader Somnath Bharti took on the claims that the rally should have stopped, saying instead that his party's volunteers climbed the tree to save the farmer and criticised Delhi Police for not being trained to climb trees.  He also made mention of a conspiracy.

Attendees at RML Hospital: Congress' Rahul Gandhi, Ajay Maken; AAP's Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia.