Published May 01, 2024 | 3:48 PM ⚊ Updated May 01, 2024 | 3:48 PM
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah. (X)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday, 1 May, alleged that former prime minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda planned the escape of his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna abroad.
Prajwal is accused in an alleged sex scandal which is being investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) constituted by the Karnataka government. He is believed to have escaped to Germany shortly after polling in the first phase of elections in the state got over on 26 April, in which Prajwal was the JD(S)-BJP combine’s candidate from Hassan.
“Who gives passport and visa for travelling abroad? It’s the Centre. Can he go without the Centre’s knowledge? It was former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda who planned and sent him abroad,” the chief minister told reporters.
He was replying to a query on BJP’s allegation that the state government allowed him to escape.
The chief minister also slammed Home Minister Amit Shah and asked why his party gave a ticket to its alliance partner candidate if BJP was pro “Matru Shakti” (women power).
The SIT headed by Additional Director General of Police BK Singh was formed after a huge cache of explicit videos, allegedly featuring Prajwal, went viral on social media. The team has two other IPS officers of SP rank.
Gowda’s son and former minister HD Revanna and his son Prajwal are facing sexual harassment allegations after a case was registered against them.
On Amit Shah’s statement that his party “respected Matru aur Nari Shakti”, Siddaramaiah sought to know why it gave Prajwal a ticket when it had information about his videos beforehand.
“Why did the BJP give the ticket to him if it was ‘Pro-Matru-Shakti’? When they were aware of the video why was the ticket given to him? Why did they form an alliance when they knew that there were such videos? What does it mean? What does it indicate? Please explain to me,” the Chief Minister said.
He also ruled out his deputy DK Shivakumar’s involvement in leaking the videos as has been alleged by JD(S) second-in-command HD Kumaraswamy.
“Kumaraswamy says that these videos were leaked. Karthik is Prajwal Revanna’s driver. He has said he gave it (pen drive comprising videos and photos) to BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda. Did he say that he gave it to DK Shivakumar? How can he (Kumaraswamy) say that DK Shivakumar released it,” Siddaramaiah said.
He underlined that Devaraje Gowda had said that he received it but denied releasing it.
“If such is the case then, who released it (videos)? To whom did he give the pen drive? DK Shivakumar has no connection with this case,” the chief minister said.
He asked reporters to wait for the outcome of the investigation into the case.
He said the investigation will be transparent and his party will not interfere with the SIT or its probe.
(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)
