HD Kumaraswamy of the Janata Dal (Secular) on Tuesday asserted that the party will not protect his nephew Prajwal Revanna amid the controversy over the obscene video case against the Hassan MP in Karnataka.
Describing it a “shameful issue”, HD Kumaraswamy told reporters, “…We are not going to protect him, we will take severe action but the government’s responsibility is more. Not only as an uncle but as a common man of the country, we have to move further. I am not protecting any person. We have fought against these kinds of illegal things. This is a serious issue. Who is running the government, they have to expose the real picture and the ground reality has to be exposed by the govt and not me…”
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The fresh statement by HD Kumaraswamy comes even as Prajwal Revanna faces suspension over allegations of his sexual abuse of several women. HD Kumaraswamy said on Monday that the JD(S) had decided to suspend Prajwal Revanna.
The former chief minister also sought to distance JD(S)’s alliance partner BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the case, amid attacks by the ruling Congress seeking their response on the issue.
On Monday, HD Kumaraswamy had said that there was no question of defending Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, and the party would take “merciless action” if the Special Investigation Team probe proves the charges.
Amid the political firestorm over allegations of sexual harassment against Prajwal Revanna and his father, MLA HD Revanna – the grandson and son of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda respectively – the JD(S) has convened a critical core committee meeting in Hubbali on Tuesday. The party has options of either suspending or expelling them, people familiar with the matter told HT.
Prajwal Revanna is the BJP-JD(S) alliance’s candidate from Hassan which went to the polls on April 26. Former chief minister Kumaraswamy, who is also the state JD(S) chief, strongly objected to the names of his father and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda, among other family members, being drawn into the controversy.
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