Deveraje Gowda claimed that he had sent a letter to Vijayendra informing him about the conduct of Prajwal and the existence of the videos.
Prajwal Revanna with BJP Karnataka chief BY Vijayendra. (X)
Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra on Tuesday, 30 April, denied that party leader and lawyer Deveraje Gowda wrote a letter to him informing about the videos of the alleged sexual assault incidents involving JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna.
“Lawyer Devaraje Gowda’s claim of sending me a letter on the videos is patently false. No such letter has reached me nor did I have any knowledge of the videos,” said Vijayendra in a post on X.
Gowda claimed that he had sent a letter to Vijayendra on 8 December last year informing him about the conduct of Prajwal and the existence of several videos of the Hassan MP sexually assaulting several women.
The videos have been doing rounds in Hassan since a couple of days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on 26 April. Following that, the state government formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations.
He also claimed that Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar knew about the video and alleged that he waited till the elections to make the videos public.
“Dy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar has admitted to knowing about the videos for months but waited to get closer to the elections to make them public. If he had known about the videos, why didn’t the Congress government order investigations immediately? Why wait till the elections?” Vijayendra questioned.
“And, why take to the streets now when it is your government in the state and you have the power to order investigation and take action? Why this drama? The Congress government must answer to the people,” he demanded.
Lawyer Devaraje Gowda's claim of sending me a letter on the videos is patently false. No such letter has reached me nor did I have any knowledge of the videos.
Dy Chief Minister DK Shiva Kumar has admitted to knowing about the videos for months but waited to get closer to the…
— Vijayendra Yediyurappa (Modi Ka Parivar) (@BYVijayendra) April 30, 2024
However, Karthik, former driver of Prajwal Revanna, said on Tuesday that he had handed over the videos only to Gowda and that the allegations that they were also given to Congress leaders including Shivakumar were false.
“Why will I give it to Congress when they (Revanna) are on great terms with Congress? Congress could have hidden all evidence and called me a liar, so why would I take that risk? I could not have trusted Congress with this information which is why I went to BJP leader Devaraje (Gowda). He also conned me,” Karthik said.
“I don’t know who shared the pen drive. To save himself, fake allegations are being made against me,” he added replying to Gowda’s claim that he had given the videos to some Congress leaders.
After the videos of Prajwal went viral, a 47-year-old woman, who was a worker at his house, filed a complaint alleging sexual harassment by Prajwal and his father Revanna, who is the Holenarsipura MLA.
Subsequently, an FIR was registered against the father-son duo under IPC sections 354A (sexual abuse), 354D (stalking), 506 (threat), and 509 (insult caused to the modesty of a woman).
On Tuesday, the SIT issued a notice to both of them to appear before it. The National Commission for Women (NCW) also sought a report within three days from the Karnataka police.
Prajwal is not in the country and is said to have flown abroad after the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka on 26 April.
He is also the BJP-JD(S) candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha segment.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
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