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New Delhi, July, 3 : Faced with adverse
publicity and pressure from his party leadership, Congress MP M
Jagannath on Monday apologised to the bank official he had assaulted
in Andhra Pradesh.
With the media making a splash of the scene of the MP physically
manhandling a rural bank manager, the incident became bad publicity
for Congress as a whole and the party's government in Andhra Pradesh
in particular.
Saying sorry to the bank official, the Nagarkurnool MP said, "I
have no personal grudge against (bank manager) Ravinder Reddy; it
was unfortunate."
The apology followed an open censure of the MP by the Congress
leadership which said that public figures should conduct themselves
properly.
What was more alarming for the Congress government in Andhra, however,
was the caste dimensions that the incident had threatened to acquire.
Protests were organised along caste lines both in favour and against
Jagannath.
"I tender unconditional apology to him," the Dalit MP
said. He, however, hinted at the official deliberately delaying
release of funds for an SC/ST welfare project. "The truth will
come out later," Jagannath said.
According to Congress sources, a senior party functionary had talked
to the MP directing him to tender an apology.
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