Bangalore:
A case has been registered against Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna amid a row over explicit videos of him allegedly sexually assaulting several women.
The video clips, allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna, surfaced on social media a day after he voted in Phase 2 of the elections on April 26.
However, Prajwal Revanna – grandson of JDS chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda – has denied the allegations and filed a complaint alleging that the videos in circulation are faked.
The Karnataka government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the obscene video case.
The decision to form the SIT came after the state women commission recommended the Siddaramaiah government to take action.
What is Prajwal Revanna accused of?
The scandal involves explicit videos allegedly recorded by the MP and widely circulated in the Hassan constituency.
This was followed by a woman filing a police case against Prajwal Revanna, accusing him of sexual assault. She claimed she was sexually assaulted multiple times between 2019 and 2022.
The complainant also alleged that Prajwal Revanna misbehaved with her daughter during a video call and had 'vulgar conversations' with her.
The woman alleged that Prajwal's father HD Revanna had also sexually abused her when his wife was not at home. She also said there is a threat to her life and that of other members of her family.
BJP leader Devaraje Gowda, who was the party's Holenarsipura candidate in the 2023 Assembly elections, has now alleged that he had written a letter to the then state president BY Vijayendra in December last year, making “serious allegations” against the HD Deve Gowda family including Prajwal Revanna signaled.
He claimed he received a pen drive containing 2,976 explicit videos of women – which were then used to blackmail them into continuing sexual activities. “If we join the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as brahmastra and we will be tainted as a party aligning with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to our party's image at the national level,” Devaraje Gowdahad wrote in the letter.
Who is Prajwal Revanna and what he says
Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Devegowda.
Prajwal Revanna is the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate in the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, where second phase voting took place on April 26. Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), joined the NDA in September last year.
The 33-year-old left for Germany on Saturday morning, shortly after the videos appeared online.
He has filed a police complaint, claiming the videos were tampered with and circulated to “tarnish his image and poison the minds of voters”.
Prajwal's father HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case filed by their former domestic help, is an MLA from Holenarasipur constituency.
Sex scandal leads to political brawl
The row has also turned into a political bickering between the JDS and the BJP.
The BJP has distanced itself from Prajwal Revanna amid the controversy surrounding his alleged sex tapes. “We as a party have nothing to do with the videos nor do we have any comment on the SIT probe announced by the state government into the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna,” said BJP state spokesperson S Prakash.
Prajwal Revanna's uncle and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy said he would like to wait for the facts to emerge from the investigation into the alleged scandal involving his nephew, but asserted that there is no question of charging anyone to forgive those who have committed a crime. crime
Another JD(S) leader Sharangouda Kandkur has demanded the suspension of Prajwal Revanna. In a two-page letter made public on Monday morning, Mr Kandkur told HD Deve Gowda that the JDS was “embarrassed by the circulating videos, and this is damaging the reputation of both you and your party”, he said.
The Congress has attacked the BJP, alleging that the party helped Prajwal Revanna flee the country amid a row over alleged sex clips involving him. Congress leaders and workers also staged a protest in Bengaluru demanding his immediate arrest.