Didnt slap manager,says MP; Cong orders probe

The police have booked Dr Manda Jagannath,the Congress MP from Nagarkurnool,after K Ravinder Reddy...

The police have booked Dr Manda Jagannath,the Congress MP from Nagarkurnool,after K Ravinder Reddy,manager of the Grameen Vikas Bank of Uppununtala in Mahabubnagar district,complained that the MP caught hold of him by his collar and slapped him several times on Monday afternoon. Though the MP denied that he slapped the managerhe agrees that he went to the bank to talk to himUnion Law Minister and senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily ordered an inquiry into the incident saying no one should indulge in such acts.

The MP decided to go to the bank after holding a meeting of the Mandal officials and public representatives where members of the SC/ST community complained that the bank manager had not been releasing loans to them for the past six months. When I called the manager from there,he did not give a satisfactory reply and sounded very arrogant. He sort of challenged me to meet him at the bank. I went to the bank and he appeared drunk to me. I tried to hold his shoulder to talk to him,but he blocked me and in the process my hand may have touched him,but I did not slap him, Jagannath said on Wednesday evening. The bank manager was definitely causing delay in disbursement of loans to the SC/ST youths, the MP added.

However,a cameraperson of a local cable news service,who was apparently tipped off by the SC/ST beneficiaries that the irate MP was going to the bank,filmed the MP slapping the manager. The footage was aired on local news channels on Monday evening.

Bank manager Ravinder Reddy,who was in Hyderabad on Wednesday,said the MP stormed into the bank and started accusing him of causing the delay. He did not give me a chance to explain and was already very worked up. When I said he could complain to my superiors if he thought I was at fault,he just caught hold of my collar and started slapping, Reddy said.

The police filed a case against the MP under IPC Sections 353 assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty,323 voluntarily causing hurt and 504 insulting,a police official said. However,after the bank manager complained to the police,a counter case was filed against him under the Prevention of Atrocities Against SC/STs Act by the beneficiaries who alleged he was deliberately delaying loan disbursement.

Meanwhile,employees of the AP Grameen Vikas Bank have threatened to go on strike if the MP did not apologise,and to stop disbursal of loans as a mark of protest till action was initiated against the MP. The AP Regional Rural Banks Employees Association APRRBEA demanded that the MP express regret for his action and also assure that such incidents wont happen again. The association said it would take up the matter with the Prime Minister,Lok Sabha Speaker and the Chief Minister. As a mark of protest,all staff in the rural branches wore black badges and staged demonstrations before offices of the district collectors.

In New Delhi,Congress spokesman Manish Tewari said Moily,the party in-charge of Andhra Pradesh,had ordered an inquiry. The Andhra Pradesh PCC has been asked to prepare a detailed report on the incident.

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It is regrettable. It is unfortunate. People who occupy public office must behave with dignity, Tewari told reporters here. He said that AICC in-charge of Andhra,M Veerappa Moily has asked the PCC to submit a detailed report on the incident involving the Nagarkurnool MP. After the report comes,the party will peruse it. There are in-house mechanisms, said Tewari.

Dr Jagannath,who joined the Congress after being thrown out of the TDP,was one of the two TDP MPs who defied the party whip and voted in favour of the UPA over the nuclear deal last July.