The move comes after the committee made a recommendation to JD(S) national president and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
Prajwal Revanna.
The JD(S) on Tuesday, 30 April, suspended its Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna from the party over his alleged involvement in sexually assaulting hundreds of women, including government officials and party workers.
The move comes after the committee made a recommendation to the party’s national president and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. Prajwal is the BJP-JD(S) alliance’s candidate from Hassan, which went to polls on 26 April.
The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna is the son of Deve Gowda’s elder son HD Revanna, who is the Holenarasipura MLA and a former minister.
“Videos of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna allegedly harassing women are widely in circulation on social media and media and this has caused huge embarrassment to the party and its leadership,” the suspension order said.
Stating that the Congress government in Karnataka has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate this, it said, “In this backdrop, as per JD(S)’ party constitution and rules regarding breach of discipline and punishment, Prajwal Revanna has been suspended with immediate effect.”
The suspension order, signed by party general secretary KR Shivakumar, was released to the media following approval from the JD(S) national president.
“Regarding allegations on Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, the Karnataka government has constituted an SIT and they have started the investigation. We welcome it. As the investigation is on and the report is still awaited, we have decided not to interfere in the process and extend full cooperation to the investigation,” core committee chief and MLA GT Devegowda said.
Speaking to reporters after the core committee meeting, he said, “We have also made a unanimous resolution to suspend him (Prajwal) from the party, and have made a recommendation in this regard to our national president HD Deve Gowda. As he (Prajwal) is a Lok Sabha member our national president has to take action. We have asked him to immediately take action.”
The core committee meeting was attended by state JD(S) president HD Kumaraswamy and other members.
Kumaraswamy said the decision is to suspend Prajwal and the tenure of the suspension is based on the SIT probe report and government action on it.
“We welcome the SIT probe. The suspension is until the SIT report on Prajwal’s role comes out. If it comes in the report that he is guilty, he will be permanently suspended,” he added.
Some explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna had started making the rounds in Hassan recently.
The government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged sexual assault incidents involving the MP.
On 28 April, a survivor in the case stepped forward and filed a complaint against Prajwal and his father Revanna alleging sexual abuse.
The complaint was filed by a 47-year-old woman who worked at the residence of Revanna. An FIR has been filed against the father-son duo.
In her complaint, registered at the Holenarasipura Police Station, the survivor named both father and son, alleging sexual harassment and abuse by them.
Police have registered a case under Sections 354A, 354D, 506, and 509 of the IPC based on the complaint.
Earlier, Devaraje Gowda, the BJP’s candidate from the Holenarsipura in the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, said he had informed the party about Prajwal but no state leader paid heed to it.
He had written that he had received a pen drive with some 3,000 odd videos of women, including government officials, performing sexual acts with Prajwal.
He also alleged that Prajwal was using the footage to blackmail the women to continue engaging in such activities.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
May 21, 2024
May 21, 2024
May 21, 2024
May 20, 2024
May 20, 2024
May 20, 2024
