A Congress member of Lok Sabha has kicked up a big row by slapping a bank manager in his constituency in the full public view.
In the episode, which took before the TV cameras, M Jagannadham, representing Nagarkurnool (SC) constituency of Mahbubnagar district slapped a Grameena Vikas Bank manager Ravindra Reddy at Uppunuthula mandal twice, alleging that the manager had insulted him and provoked him by his behaviour.
Even as the staff of 500 branches of the bank in 8 districts of Andhra Pradesh have stopped the work demanding an apology from the MP, the police have booked cases against both the sides.
The state director general of police SSP Yadav said that both the cases were under investigations.
The police have booked a case against the MP for physical assault on the bank manager, they have also booked a case against the manager under SC/ ST Atrocities Act on the complaint of the MP.
The Grameena Vikas Bank staff has put on hold the release of the crop loans and other works till the MP tenders an apology.
The AP Regional Rural Bans Employees Association has also threatened that if Jagannadham does not apologise for the attack on the manager, a meeting will be held on July 4 to chalk out the future course of action.
Jagannadham on the other hand has rejected the demand for apology. "If I had done something wrong, I would have tendered an apology. I have not done anything wrong. Let there be an independent inquiry", he said.
Jagannadham alleged that so much hullabaloo was being created against him because he was a dalit. He also alleged that the bank officials had become a stumbling block in the way of the economic progress of the weaker sections.
The trouble started on Monday when Jagannadham was attending a meeting at Uppunuthula Mandal in his constituency, where the members of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes complained to him that the Grameena Vikas Bank manager was not releasing loans to them.
When Jagannadham contacted the manager over phone and inquired about the issue, the manager allegedly talked lightly.
Angered over this, the MP rushed to the bank and after an altercation slapped the manager twice.
Though the scene of MP slapping the manager was telecast on TV channels repeatedly, the MP said that he had only tried to catch the manager by shoulder to take him to his seniors in his car.
Meanwhile, the matter is threatening to take a political colour as the Congress top brass was not happy with the MP for his high handedness.
The Union Minister for Law and Congress general secretary Veerappa Moily observed that the MP should not have acted in the manner he did.
He said he had called for the details of the incident and only after going through that, he will react.
The All India Congress Committee President Sonia Gandhi has also called for the details of the incident.
Jagannadham was a Telugu Desam MP who defected to Congress during the confidence motion in Lok Sabha after the Left withdrew its support on the United States Nuclear deal issue.
Later he joined Congress and retained Nagarkurnool seat in the recent elections.
