When a farmer approached Union minister Sanjeev Balyan with his problems and threatened to commit suicide if his demands are not met, the Minister of State for Agriculture said he is free to do whatever he likes.

"Do whatever you like," Balyan told the farmer in Rajasthan's Tonk where he was attending an event organised by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research.

According to an IBN Khabar report, the farmer named Giriraj Jat complained to the minister that the power supply to his village Arniya Kakda was cut off for over a fortnight, affecting his 200-odd fruit trees.

Frustrated by the apathy of the electricity department in the BJP-ruled state, the farmer is reported to have told Balyan that he will be forced to commit suicide if he does not get urgent help.

Giriraj repeated this several times, prompting the controversial parliamentarian from Muzaffarnagar to get up and say, "Go, do whatever you like. Don't talk about it."

Thousands of farmers commit suicide every year in India due to mounting debt or bad weather destroying crops. In the last two decades, nearly 300,000 Indian farmers have killed themselves by consuming pesticides or hanging themselves.

Maharashtra, with more 65,000 farmer suicides, tops the list. Last year, as many as 3,228 debt-hit farmers committed suicide in Maharashtra, with the maximum in Vidarbha and Marathwada regions.