2 Jul 2009, 1717 hrs IST

NEW DELHI, India: Seeking to put an end to the row over his alleged slapping of a rural bank manager, Congress MP M Jagannath today tendered unconditional apology to the victim.

"I have no personal grudge against Ravinder Reddy, the rural bank manager. It was an unfortunate incident. The truth would come out later. However, I tender unconditional apology to him to put an end to this," he told reporters here.

The MP from Nagarkurnool is in the national capital to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary, in-charge of Andhra Pradesh affairs, Veerappa Moily to explain his position over the issue.

Jagannath, who was caught on camera slapping Ravinder Reddy, the branch manager of Andhra Pradesh Grameena Vikas Bank at Uppununtala in Mahabubnagar district, was summoned by the Congress high command to Delhi.

Taking a serious view of the MP's action, the Congress leadership obtained a report from state Congress president D Srinivas. The MP, however, defended himself yesterday, saying he did not intend to assault the bank employee.

"I was told that he was not disbursing the loan amounts to SC/ST beneficiaries. When I asked him for the reasons, he challenged me to come to the bank to settle the scores. He spoke very provocatively. I wanted to make him see reason. When I tried to put my hand on his shoulder, he pulled back. My hand happened to touch his cheek. It gave an impression that I slapped him," he had said.

Acting on a complaint by the manager, police at Uppununtala registered a case against the MP on various charges including assault, insult and attacking a public servant while discharging his duties.

A counter case was filed against the bank manager by some alleged supporters of the MP under the stringent Prevention of Atrocities against SC/STs.

Strongly protesting the incident, the rural bank employees union has announced a series of agitation programmes. The bank union demanded that the MP tender an apology over the incident.

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