On Monday, April 3, Congress MLA Brihaspat Singh slapped a cooperative bank employee on the premise of the Zila Sahakari Bank’s Ramanujganj Branch in Balrampur-Ramanujganj district of Chattisgarh. A controversy erupted as the video went viral on social media.
Raipur, Chhattisgarh| Viral video of Ramanujganj MLA Brihaspati Singh shows him slapping a person near the Central Bank branch in Balrampur district over a dispute over the withdrawal of money pic.twitter.com/GeyM9I07iC
— ANI MP/CG/Rajasthan (@ANI_MP_CG_RJ) April 5, 2023
As the video of the incident went viral on social media, the employees at cooperative banks in the Surguja division, which includes five districts, demanded action against the Congress legislator and declared a two-day mass leave that is Wednesday and Thursday.
In the video, it can be seen that the Ramanujganj MLA Brihaspat Singh grabbed a person by his collar and slapped him thrice while a large crowd gathered outside the bank.
The Congress MLA not only owned up to his outrageous act but also levelled serious allegations against the bank employees.
The Congress legislator said that bank employees mistreated him and defrauded farmers by fraudulently siphoning money from their accounts in exchange for paddy procurement adding that the bank employees did not release funds and also misbehaved with the farmers. He further accused them of making bogus signatures and hiding passbooks.
“I got angry and hit them. We will not tolerate injustice with farmers and will also not hesitate to break the rules if such a thing happens to the farmers,” MLA Brihaspat Singh said.
Meanwhile, a group of employees sought action against Singh in a memo they submitted to the Inspector General of Police (Surguja range) in Ambikapur town on Tuesday and addressed to chief minister Bhupesh Baghel. According to the notice, Singh allegedly hit and verbally abused peon Arvind Singh and clerk Rajesh Pal in front of numerous farmers while they were on duty.
RK Khare, president of Zilla Sahkari Kendriya Bank Karamchari Sangh Ambikapur, stated that the episode had angered and disappointed the cooperative bank employees. Government employees’ interests must be protected by public representatives, but where would they turn if the public representatives start torturing them, he questioned.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) slammed Singh over the incident and demanded that the Congress MLA’s resignation.
कांग्रेस विधायक हताशा में आ चुके हैं, कांग्रेस विधायक नहीं दे पा रहे जनता के सवालों के जवाब, ना कोई काम करवा पा रहे हैं।
— BJP Chhattisgarh (@BJP4CGState) April 4, 2023
जनता के साथ मारपीट करने वाले विधायक को तुरंत पद मुक्त किया जाए। इस घटना ने छत्तीसगढ़ को शर्मसार किया है।
– श्री @KedarKashyapBJP जी pic.twitter.com/uAwdiiAo0O
BJP State General Secretary Kedar Kashyap said, “Congress MLAs have come in desperation; they are unable to answer the public’s questions or do any work. The MLA who assaulted the public should be relieved of his post right away. Chhattisgarh has been disturbed by this incident.”
