A legislator of the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Wednesday allegedly misbehaved with a woman collector of Mahabubabad district, drawing the ire of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who directed him to apologise to her.

Shankar Naik, a member of the Telangana state legislative assembly, allegedly misbehaved with Preeti Meena during a tree plantation programme in the district.

Images telecast on Telugu television channels show the MLA touching the collector’s arm.

The MLA’s behaviour triggered strong protest by the government employees including the subordinate staff of the collector. They threatened to go on strike if no action was taken against the MLA.

Employees of the revenue department staged a protest by wearing black badges. “If this can happen to a collector, what is the safety of ordinary employees,” asked one of the protestors.

Feeling offended by the MLA’s behaviour, the collector complained to Chief Secretary S.P. Singh, who in turn informed the Chief Minister.

Rao took serious note of the incident and asked Shankar Naik to personally meet the collector and tender an unconditional apology.

According to a statement from the Chief Minister’s Office, he expressed anger at Naik’s rash behaviour towards the collector. “He took the MLA to task for his misbehaviour. The CM expressed his regrets and anguish over the incident.”

He warned the MLA that if he does not change his behaviour he would be suspended from the party.

Rao has also asked Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari and MP Sitaram Naik to speak to the collector and settle the matter on behalf of the government and TRS. He said that such incidents should not occur again.

Meanwhile, Naik clarified that there were many people attending the programme and he did not touch her intentionally. He said Preeti Meena was like his sister.