Bengaluru: Obscene videos purportedly featuring former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s grandson and Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna have rocked Karnataka political circles. The Congress-led government has set up a special investigation team (SIT) to investigate sexual assault allegations related to the videos circulating online.
Incumbent Prajwal is contesting the Hassan Lok Sabha seat as the joint candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the JD(S), which formed a pre-poll alliance in Karnataka. The BJP-JD(S) are fighting all 28 seats, with JD(S) candidates fielded from Hassan, Kolar, and Mandya.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced the setting up of the SIT late Saturday evening after the state women’s commission asked the government to investigate allegations that “influential politicians sought sexual favours” from women, “raping some of them”.
The developments came hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address at four back-to-back election rallies in Karnataka on Sunday.
In a post on X, Siddaramaiah said Saturday, “The government has decided to form a special investigation team in connection with the Prajwal Revanna obscene video case. Obscene videos are circulating in Hassan in which it appears that women have been sexually assaulted. In this background, the chairperson of the women’s commission had written a letter to the government to conduct an SIT investigation. Based on their request, we have decided to take this up.”
The decision to form the SIT came a day after polling in Karnataka’s 14 constituencies, including Hassan, on 26 April, as 14 more constituencies gear up for polling in the second phase.
Prajwal, also the son of former minister H.D. Revanna and nephew of former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, was last seen in the district Friday evening, and since then, there has been no news of his whereabouts.
Speaking to reporters, Prajwal’s uncle H.D. Kumaraswamy said he and his father, Deve Gowda, have always been respectful towards women and heeded their grievances.
“An SIT probe has been ordered already…. Let the (findings) of the investigation come out first… according to the law of the land… ‘Uppu Thindavaru Neer Kudilebeku (a Kannada proverb meaning people have to face the consequences for their actions)’. There is no question of forgiving anyone who has committed a mistake. Let the findings come out, then I will comment,” he told reporters Sunday.
He added that he is not in contact with Prajwal. “They have formed an SIT, and if he (Prajwal) has gone abroad, it is their (probe authority’s) responsibility to bring him back,” he added.
ThePrint reached Prajwal, his office and his father via calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
“Prajwal had attended a funeral Friday evening and was there the entire time. After this, we don’t know where he went,” said a member of Prajwal’s staff, requesting anonymity.
Sources say Prajwal is believed to have left the country, but there is no confirmation about where he has gone or for how long.
On 24 April, a supporter of Prajwal had filed a complaint against one Naveen Gowda for allegedly circulating “morphed” pictures and videos of the young MP.
The developments have given the Congress fresh ammunition to attack the BJP-JD(S) alliance ahead of the 7 May polls for the 14 remaining constituencies in Karnataka.
Addressing the PM in an X post, Priyank Kharge, Karnataka Rural Development and Information Technology minister, said, “Why you gave the Hassan parliamentary ticket to a JDS candidate, despite knowing that hundreds of women were abused by the candidate?”
Dear @narendramodi avare,
Welcome to Karnataka once again.
While you are here, instead of fabricating lies about:
– Mangalsutras
– Muslim reservations
– ManifestoTell Kannadigas the truth about:
– Why you gave the Hassan parliamentary ticket to a JDS candidate, despite… https://t.co/joNpg7BZ8F
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 28, 2024
Two women, who are the alleged victims of Prajwal, have appeared on Kannada TV news channel — Power TV — making grave allegations, including of sexual assault, against Prajwal.
The BJP is yet to react to the allegations or the decision by the Karnataka government to set up the SIT.
Prajwal was disqualified as an MP in September last year but secured a stay on the verdict later. The Karnataka High Court had declared null and void the 2019 election of Prajwal for withholding information in his affidavit and even issued notices to his father and brother Suraj for hiding their income, as well as corrupt election practices, after A. Manju, the BJP’s 2019 Hassan Lok Sabha candidate, filed a case. Manju is now the JD(S) MLA from the district.
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Family feud
Nine family members of the 91-year-old Deve Gowda are active in politics. His son-in-law, Dr C.N. Manjunath, a cardiologist fielded as the BJP candidate from Bengaluru Rural this election, is the ninth member of the JD(S)’s first family to enter politics.
However, there has been an ongoing feud within the Gowda household, with his two sons, H.D. Kumaraswamy and H.D. Revanna, fighting for dominance. Both of H.D. Revanna’s sons, Prajwal and Suraj, are active in politics — the latter is an MLC.
Kumaraswamy’s actor-son, Nikhil, on the other hand, has unsuccessfully contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Mandya and the 2023 assembly elections from Ramanagara.
According to people aware of the inner equations within the family, the bitterness has trickled down to the third generation.
The family-before-party practice has impacted the prospects of the JD(S), reduced from 37 seats in the state assembly in 2018 to only 19 in 2023. The JD(S) vote share dropped from nearly 18 percent to just 13 percent, with the party losing crucial seats in the Old Mysuru region. As many as 139 JD(S) candidates lost their deposit in the 2023 elections. H.D. Revanna’s winning margin dropped from 43,832 in 2018 to 3,152 in May last year.
In 2018, H.D. Kumaraswamy contested and won two seats — Channapatna and Ramanagara. In Channapatna, he won with a margin of 21,530 in 2018, but this lead dropped to 15,915 in 2023.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
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