A week before India steps into the third phase of polls, this BJP-JDS candidate from Hassan and grandson of former PM HD Deve Gowda, is wrapped in a sex scandal. Following the incident, he has reportedly fled the country and is suspended from his party.
Complaint against Prajwal Revanna and his father
On Sunday, April 28th, a sexual assault complaint was registered in Hassan against the running candidate, Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna, JD (S) Chief. The complaint was registered by a house cook and relative of HD Revanna’s wife Bhavani Revanna, as Economic Times reported.
In her complaint, she said, “After four months of joining, (Prajwal)Revanna kept calling me to his room. There were six women workers in the house and everyone said that they were scared when Prajwal Revanna came home. The male workers in the house also alerted the women workers to be careful.”
The woman complainant naming HD Revanna, Prajwal’s father and Deve Gowda’s son, as an accused in the case, added “Whenever (HD) Revanna’s wife wasn’t there, he used to call the women to the store room and touch them while giving them fruits. He used to remove saree pins and used to sexually assault women,” she added. She claimed that the abuse happened between 2019 and 2022.
Following the incident, the Karnataka Government immediately formed an SIT team comprising IPS officers Suman D Pennekar and Seema Latkar. The team is being led by Additional General of Police Bijay Kumar Singh.
Key Characters- G Devaraje Gowda and Revanna’s driver
In a report by Indian Express, Revanna’s driver, Karthik employed for over 15 years, who was treated like a family speculatively had “access to Prajwal’s phones and electronic devices’ ‘ and began threatening him over the obscene videos. In June 2023, suit against him, along with 86 media outlets and 2 other individuals, had already been filed by Prajwal himself on grounds that “there is a threat of broadcasting, publishing, circulating such fake news, morphed photographs/videos against the plaintiff.”
Later, in December 2023, he filed a police complaint alleging an assault to his family, wife and mother, over a land dispute case– ultimately forced to sell his 13 acre land, as reported by the Hindu. Subsequently he was rescued by The BJP leader and lawyer, Devaraje Gowda. It was on his plea that Prajwal was disqualified as an MP last year. It was here that, Karthik shared the photos and videos to his advocate, Devraje Gowda.
In his statement to the Hindu, Karthik said, “Devaraje Gowda had been telling the media that the videos had reached Congress leaders. I did not share the content with any of the Congress leaders, as I had no confidence in them. They had not come to my rescue in the land case.”
Prior to the BJP-JDS alliance, Gowda claimed that he wrote a letter to BJP state president BY Vijayendra and warned about a pen-drive containing thousand videos of Prajwal’s obscene acts, in December 2023.
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Slammed by Congress
Backing Gowda’s claim, Congress member Pawan Khera posted on twitter the warning letter sent to BY Vijayendra. He raised several questions against BJP’s move to continue with the alliance despite the warning. Similarly, Priyank Kharge accused PM Modi of helping Prajwal flee the country.
Priyanka Gandhi, Congress party General Secretary also slammed the PM for the move. Sharing a post on X, she questioned his silence. Along with this several party members have taken to social media to express their disgust, trolling ‘Modi Ka Parivaar.’
‘Modi Ka Parivar’ pic.twitter.com/VjpgcTAqCB
— Congress (@INCIndia) April 29, 2024
Priyanka Gandhi also took a jibe at BJP for not ‘knowing’ about Revanna’s fleeing when they keep info even on the miniscule activities of opposition leaders including what they are doing in their personal lives and which city they are visiting.
प्रधानमंत्री जी आजकल महिलाओं के मंगलसूत्र और गहनों की बातें करते हैं। कर्नाटका में मोदी जी ने जिसके लिए वोट मांगा, उन्होंने हजारों महिलाओं के साथ दुष्कर्म किया। मैं पूछना चाहती हूं कि हमारे प्रधानमंत्री और गृहमंत्री इस बारे में क्या कहते हैं?
मोदी जी, देश की करोड़ों महिलाएं… pic.twitter.com/sJSIYwhyMl
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 29, 2024
BJP’s Response
Amidst the ongoing scandal, PM Modi is busy with his campaigns in Maharashtra. “I have left no stone unturned to empower women; thousands of women have joined Self Help Groups in the last 10 years,” said PM Modi at a poll rally in Madha.
BJP has apparently distanced itself from the scandal. Radha Mohan Das Agarwal, BJP MP, has said, “The alliance is for election purposes, but the decision of candidate selection is not done by the BJP. Once the seat sharing was discussed, the authority to decide the candidate rests with the party that is contesting from the seat,” in a report by Mint.
Slamming the Congress, he said, “The Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi are trying to politicise the issue, but they need to clarify. Do they decide the candidates for their alliance partners? They should admit if the candidates for the INDI parties (INDIA bloc) were selected by them,” he added.
Former CM of Karnataka and uncle of Prajwal Revanna, HD Kumarswamy, also distancing himself said, “Point to the individual who is facing the allegation. Don’t blame the family. H.D. Revanna and his family are separate. I don’t keep track of his movements,” he said. He questioned the timing of the release of the pen drive just days before the Lok Sabha elections. “Who all are behind the release of pen drive? They are experts in releasing such things,” he remarked.
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