JD(S) WILL SUSPEND MP PRAJWAL REVANNA OVER SCANDAL, SAYS HD KUMARASWAMY

SHIVAMOGGA/HASSAN: Former Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) said Monday his nephew and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna will be suspended after Tuesday’s core committee meeting of the party in Hubballi, amidst efforts to distance ex-PM HD Deve Gowda and himself from an alleged sex scandal involving the 33-year-old parliamentarian, who is seeking re-election in alliance with BJP.

The decision to take action against Prajwal for alleged transgressions was reportedly made by the JD(S) top brass, including party patriarch Gowda. Kumaraswamy told reporters in Shivamogga that the matter was discussed Sunday with Gowda.

The ex-CM acknowledged the Prajwal case had embarrassed party functionaries, but sought to shield alliance partner BJP from the controversy. He said BJP has no involvement in the issue. Asked about Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s poser to PM Narendra Modi on the issue, Kumaraswamy said: “Did Modi campaign for Prajwal? How can it be linked to the PM?”

This follows a 47-year-old woman lodging Sunday a police complaint against the son and grandson Gowda — former minister HD Revanna and Prajwal respectively — accusing them of sexually harassing her and her daughter when they worked in the Revanna household between 2019 and 2022. Early last week, videos circulated via pen drives purportedly showing sexual exploitation of several women. Prajwal had approached police alleging that these videos were created using deepfake to defame him ahead of voting on April 26.

Congress govt in Karnataka has formed an SIT to investigate the case. Kumaraswamy claimed he had no prior knowledge of the scandal and urged police to investigate the distribution of pen drives containing the sleaze videos in Hassan city a few days before Friday’s vote.

Hinting at a conspiracy against his brother and nephew, Kumarswamy said: “Why did no survivor lodge a complaint until last week?”

The situation shifted Monday when relatives of the woman complainant alleged that she was attempting to smear the reputation of the Revanna family and harm Gowda’s image. Gowramma, the survivor's mother-in-law, accused her of fabricating allegations. She said the survivor had left her work as a cook at Revanna’s home five years ago and had never disclosed her ordeal to anyone.

Perceiving a chance, Congress is leveraging the purported scandal to censure both JD(S) and BJP. Congress functionaries accused the two parties of fielding Prajwal from Hassan despite a letter from a BJP leader in Holenarasipura asking his party to not entertain the Revanna family.

Demonstrations were held in Hassan and Holenarasipur, the native town of Revanna, as Congress members and various organisations staged protests. Protesters asserted that numerous women who have faced sexual harassment are hesitant to report due to the influential status of the Revanna family. They urged the district administration to establish a helpline to safeguard and encourage more women to step forward and lodge complaints.

Responding to the protesters’ memorandum, Hassan DC C Sathyabhama assured full cooperation to SIT and pledged protection to women seeking assistance. “It was during election time that a pen drive was found and it was forwarded to the Hassan SP. After that, an FIR was registered,” she said.