'Received pen drive with 3000 obscene videos': Karnatataka BJP ...
A Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Karnataka has claimed that he told the state president of the party in December last year that he received a pen drive with over 3,000 obscene videos of women. These videos feature women, including government officials, performing sexual acts.
The state BJP leader also said that Janata Dal (Secular) MP and HD Deve Gowda's grandson Prajwal Revanna allegedly used these footages to blackmail women into continuing such activities. Revanna was the NDA candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka, which went to polls on April 26.
The development comes after Revanna on Sunday reportedly left for Frankfurt from Bengaluru, India Today TV reported citing sources aware of the matter. As per sources, Revanna fled the country as the Siddaramaiah-led Karnataka government decided to form a special investigation team to probe the "obscene videos" case.
What did Devaraje Gowda say in his letter?
In his letter addressed to BJP Karnataka president BY Vijayendra, Devaraje Gowda said "there are grave allegations against several leaders of the HD Deve Gowda family, including Prajwal Revanna, the NDA candidate of the JD(S), the party that we are in alliance with."
He claimed that the pen drive contained a total of 2,976 videos and some of the women featured in these videos were government officials. He also claimed that another pen drive containing these videos and photos reached national leaders of the Congress.
“If we align with the JD(S) and if we nominate a JD(S) candidate in Hassan for the Lok Sabha elections, these videos can be used as a 'Brahmastra' (destructive weapon), and we will be tainted as a party that aligned with the family of a rapist. This will be a big blow to the image of our party nationally,” Devaraje Gowda said in his letter.
JD(S) MLAs express concern
Devaraje Gowda was not the only one expressing his concerns over Prajwal Revanna's candidature from Hassan. JD(S) MLA Sharangouda Kandkur on Saturday wrote a letter to HD Deve Gpwda, seeking the removal of Prajwal Revanna from the party since the scandal caused "huge embarrassment to the party."
"In the past few days, videos showing sexual acts are being circulated statewide, which has caused a huge embarrassment for the party. It looks like it is Prajwal Revanna as he was seen there in some parts of the video. At the outset, it looks like he is the accused. Hence, I request you to immediately expel him from the party," Kandkur said.
JD(S) MLA Samruddhi Manjunath demanded the expulsion of Prajwal Revanna and his father HD Revanna from the party. She said that the case has embarrassed JD(S) workers and that party president HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy should take a proper decision in the matter.
"Hassan's obscene videos are circulating in the media, it has embarrassed party workers. President HD Devegowda and HD Kumaraswamy should take a proper decision. They should decide whether 19 MLAs are important or HD Revanna or Prajwal is important. Revanna and Prajwal should be expelled from the party within 24 hours to save the party's principles and save us from embarrassment," Manjunath was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Prajwal Revanna scandal
The scandal around Prajwal Revanna intensified when a 47-year-old woman, who claimed she worked as a house help at the JD(S) Lok Sabha candidate's home, accused him as well as his father and Holenarasipur MLA HD Revanna of sexual harassment. The woman also claimed that Prajwal tried to flirt with her daughter, who then blocked his number.
"After four months of joining, 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 complainant said.
"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. Based on the woman's complaint, a case has been registered under IPC Sections 354A, 354D, 506 and 509.
(With inputs from Nagarjun Dwarkanath, Anagha Kesav)
