“I'll beat you with a shoe… Don't you know the MLA of your area ('Joota se maarunga, kheench ke'),” Bhai Virendra, an RJD MLA in Bihar, can be heard telling a panchayat secretary over a phone call.
The secretary, with his curt replies, proves to be spunkier than the ‘sachiv’ character from the viral hit series ‘Panchayat’. A clip of the undated conversation is thus viral across social media platforms. HT has not independently verified it.
Bhai Virendra has since been booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act on a complaint by Sandip Kumar, a panchayat secretary in Maner, which is the assembly constituency of Bhai Virendra.
'Don't you know Bhai Virendra?'
In the viral clip, the confrontation begins as the secretary fails to recognise the person at the other end of the call.
“I will beat you with a shoe... Don't you know Bhai Virendra?” says the person, apparently the MLA Bhai Virendra of the RJD himself.
"You want me to introduce myself? The whole country knows me," he says.
{{/usCountry}}"You want me to introduce myself? The whole country knows me," he says.
{{/usCountry}}“When you introduce yourself, then only would I recognise you,” the secretary replies.
“I am the MLA of Maner. Don't you know?” says the person identifying as Virendra, “Have you come from England?”
When the secretary tells him to “please, speak”, he gets angrier: “I will hit you with my shoe... You don't follow protocol!”
He then asks the secretary to hasten the issuance of a certificate for one of his constituents: “The application was sent long ago… Don't be too clever.”
The secretary replies: “If you talk to me with respect, I will also talk to you with respect. Nothing will get done by threats.”
Bhai Virendra purportedly says further, “When you don't know the MLA of your area, then you don't have the right to work.”
The secretary shoots back: “You give it in writing. I am ready for a transfer.”
The MLA, as per the viral clip, tells him that “many other things will happen; transfer is a small thing”.
The secretary tell him not to issues threats: “Your work is in process. When it is done, you will get the information.”
This is where the clip ends.
So far, Bhai Virendra has not responded.
Secretary Sandip Kumar said, "I raised the matter with my higher-ups, including the block development officer, and upon their advice lodged a police complaint."
State BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said the incident was proof that the RJD was a party that promoted lawlessness. Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor was asked about the incident, and he said, “RJD believes in the culture of 'katta' (unlicensed firearm). They were that way while in power. Bhai Virendra's episode proves their incorrigibility.”