Bihar: RJD MLA Bhai Virendra booked under SC/ST Act after viral audio exposes alleged casteist abuse, threats to Panchayat Secretary
A day after an audio clip went viral purportedly capturing RJD MLA Bhai Virendra threatening a government official, an FIR has been registered against him in Patna. The complaint was filed under sections of SC/ST Act by Sandeep Kumar, the panchayat secretary of Baluwa in Maner, who accused the legislator of hurling casteist slurs and issuing serious threats.
The audio went viral on the internet, where the MLA was heard scolding the government official for failing to recognize him by name. The event was followed by the RJD MLA of Maner, who called the Panchayat secretary to enquire about the death certificate of the husband of a woman named Rinki Devi. As the secretary failed to recognise him, the conversation heated up.
Virendra said, “You don’t know Bhai Virendra? You want me to introduce myself? The whole country knows me. For a moment, the secretary remained silent and then said that if he talked to him respectfully, he would do the same; if he did not maintain his behaviour, he would not spare him either. This angered the MLA and attacked his ego, which he revered, “Joote se maarunga (I will hit you with a shoe), and you can file a case if you want. You don’t follow protocol. You dare to say who is Bhai Virendra?”
The panchayat secretary was identified as Panchayat Secretary Sandeep Kumar, who has maintained decency throughout the call. After the incident, Kumar was seen filing an FIR against the RJD MLA in the SC/ST police station.
The MLA lost his cool when I failed to recognise him by name, and threatened to beat me with shoes. When I protested and told him that he should get me transferred instead of behaving badly, he said I would meet a worse fate,” Kumar told reporters.
Kumar said, “I raised the matter with my higher-ups, including the block development officer, and upon their advice lodged a police complaint.”
The clash between RJD MLA Bhai Virendra and the panchayat secretary has drawn uncanny parallels to the web series Panchayat, where the power struggle between the village MLA, the pradhan, and the secretary forms the crux of the drama.
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