The Congress on Saturday suggested that Dadra and Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkar could have been saved had Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah responded to his desperate pleas for help and the parliamentary committee for privileges had taken his suicide threat seriously.

Delkar, an Independent MP from Dadra and Nagar Haveli serving his seventh term, was found hanging in a Mumbai hotel last month. A purported suicide note had accused top administrative officials in Dadra and Nagar Haveli of harassment.

Declaring its resolve not to allow the suicide by a sitting MP be hushed up, the Congress also released copies of letters Delkar had purportedly written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla before taking the drastic step.

Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant told The Telegraph over the phone from Mumbai: “It is sad that an elected representative could not be saved although he had approached the highest authorities with his tale of woes. We want to know from the Parliament privileges committee whether Delkar had told them that he had only two options — either resign from the Lok Sabha or commit suicide.”

Asked if he was suggesting the Prime Minister and the home minister had not acted on purpose, Sawant said: “We want to know what action they took following the letters from the distressed MP. It is clear that an elected representative could not be saved even though his plight was known to the top functionaries of the country.

“The Modi government and the BJP have to answer questions. The BJP in Maharashtra hasn’t even expressed condolences over his death. Are all their sympathies reserved for Sushant Singh Rajput? The death of an MP after torture by the administration doesn’t matter to them?”

According to the Congress, Delkar had written to Prime Minister Modi first on December 18, 2020, and again on January 31, 2021. He had also written to home minister Shah on December 18 and January 12, apart from sending three letters to Birla on December 18, January 12 and January 21.

Delkar committed suicide on February 22. In between, he had also appeared before the parliamentary privileges committee after the Lok Sabha Speaker had forwarded his complaint to them.

According to the communications released by the Congress, Delkar had in his first letter to the Prime Minister and the home minister explained how the protocol of informing the local MP was not followed by the Dadra and Nagar Haveli administration during the visit of minister of state for home Nityanand Rai who had inaugurated several important projects.

Delkar had purportedly said he was being deliberately kept away from visits of dignitaries and at times his presence was being falsely recorded. He had said his absence at such events had become a topic of discussion among the people and had caused “huge embarrassment and humiliation” to him.

Delkar had purportedly requested both the Prime Minister and the home minister to take these incidents seriously and initiate action.

In the subsequent letters, Delkar is said to have alleged that the vindictive attitude of the administration had intensified and he had suffered more humiliation after complaining to the central authorities.

He wrote to the Prime Minister, according to one of the letters released by the Congress: “I have come to know that they are planning to slap false cases on me and my family members. We are going through extreme mental torture. Kindly understand the gravity of the situation and intervene immediately. Give directions to the local authorities and, if possible, time to meet so that I can narrate my miseries to you.”

Describing the developments as a great tragedy, Sawant said at a media conference in Mumbai: “Delkar was persecuted and insulted by BJP leader Praful Khoda Patel and several central administrative officers. He had complained that they were trying to entangle him in crimes that he had no connection with.

“Those cases in which chargesheet also had been filed were being reopened. He was threatened with dire consequences and was told that his family would be put in jail.

“On February 12, the privileges committee of Parliament heard Delkar’s complaints. Before this committee, Delkar had talked about the kind of pressure he was under. It is learnt that he had even said that he had two options before him: either to resign from Parliament or commit suicide. We demand an explanation from the privileges committee, whether Delkar said so just 10 days before he committed suicide.”

Sawant added: “The BJP government in Gujarat could not find out who killed their home minister Haren Pandya and could not punish the culprits but the MVA government (in Maharashtra) would definitely bring all those responsible for the suicide of Mohan Delkar to book and won’t let the situation become similar to Haren Pandya’s.”