A cornered Janata Dal (Secular) on Tuesday suspended sitting MP and Hassan candidate Prajwal Revanna over allegations of mass sexual abuse as ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) distanced itself from the incident, which has rocked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), and blamed the Congress for not taking action on the charges that have sparked sweeping criticism.
The suspension order, former chief minister and Prajwal’s uncle HD Kumaraswamy said, would be in force as long as the special investigation team (SIT), set up by the Karnataka government on Saturday, submits its report.
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“If the allegations are found to be true, he will be removed from the party permanently,” he added.
In the week before Lok Sabha elections in Hassan , a pocket borough of the JD(S) that went to the polls on April 26, videos emerged purportedly showing sexual acts by the 33-year-old leader with multiple women, sparking allegations of abuse and assault. Preliminary investigations showed that a pen drive in Hassan contained 2,976 videos, some a few seconds long and others that last a few minutes, with most seemingly recorded from a mobile phone at the Revanna residences in Bengaluru and Hassan.
On Saturday, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah set up a SIT to probe the charges, following a request from the Karnataka State Women’s Commission, and a day later, a first information report (FIR) was registered in the case, against both Prajwal and his father MLA HD Revanna, the son of JD(S) patriarch and former prime minister HD Deve Gowda.
Read more: Prajwal Revanna suspension: Congress-JD(S) workers clash in Karnataka’s Hubballi amid latter’s core committee meeting
The FIR was based on a complaint of a woman who worked at their home, alleging that she was sexually abused between 2019 and 2022. Based on the complaint, the police registered a case under sections 354A (sexual harassment), 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 509 (outraging modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code.
The SIT on Tuesday, meanwhile, issued summons to the Prajwal to appear before it for investigation, an SIT official said on a condition of anonymity and without giving further details. A notice has also been issued to his father. The summons will serve as the first step towards bringing Prajwal, who reports say is currently in Germany, back to Karnataka. “A failure to appear before SIT after the summons will make him an absconder,” said a senior Karnataka police officer.
Meanwhile, as it scrambled to distance itself from the allegations, the JD(S) called a core committee meeting in Hubbali on Tuesday, and within minutes of it being convened, announced that Prajwal was suspended.
“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, seen by HT. The order however remains silent on HD Revanna.
The order — signed by party general secretary KR Shivakumar — said that Prajwal was suspended as the state government constituted an SIT, and as per the party’s constitution and rules regarding breach of discipline and punishment.
JD(S) core committee chairman GT Devegwoda said that the party welcomed the SIT probe. “In the meeting, we decided to support the investigation completely,” he said.
Read more: Prajwal Revanna’s ex-driver says he gave sex tapes to BJP, not Congress
Ahead of the party meeting, Kumaraswamy questioned the validity of the videos.“What is the proof? Is Prajwal’s face seen in the videos? Still, we will take action on moral grounds,” he said in Hubbali. “We are not going to protect him, we will take severe action but the government has greater responsibility.”
The action came even as the BJP distance itself from the allegations, attacking the Congress for its inaction instead.
Speaking in Guwahati, Union home minister Amit Shah said that the BJP’s stance was clear that it stood with “women power”.
“I want to ask Congress and Priyanka ji who are demanding action. Who is the government there? The government is a Congress government. Why they have not taken any action till now? We do not have to take action on this as this is a law and order issue of the state,” he said.
On Monday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said on X, “The leader on whose shoulder the PM puts his hand and gets himself photographed, the leader for whom the PM himself goes to campaign 10 days before the election. He praises him on the stage. Today that leader from Karnataka is absconding from the country. Just hearing about his heinous crimes makes my heart tremble. He has ruined the lives of hundreds of women. Modi ji will you remain silent?”
But Shah defended the BJP and its ally.
“We are in favour of a probe, and the JD(S) has also announced that action will be taken…The issue that has been reported in the media is very hurtful and cannot be tolerated in any way. The BJP’s stand is very clear; we will not tolerate any insult to ‘matri aur nari shakti’ (women empowerment),” Shah said.
The controversy is also playing out against the backdrop of fiercely fought Lok Sabha elections in the southern state that sends 28 members to the Lower House. The BJP-JD(S) alliance is taking on the Congress.
On Tuesday, the National Commission of Women wrote to the Karnataka deputy general of police, Alok Mohan, asking for a detailed report within three days.
“The National Commission for Women has come across multiple media reports indicating that several video clips of a sexual nature, allegedly involving Mr Prajwal Revanna sitting MP for Lok Sabha from Hassan constituency sexually abusing hundreds of women, were circulated on social media in recent days,” the letter said, seen by HT.
NCW said that such events endangered women’s safety but also “foster a culture of disrespect and violence against them”.
“We urge prompt and decisive action from the concerned police authority to swiftly apprehend the accused, who has fled the country. A detailed report outlining the measures taken must be submitted to the commission within three days,” the letter said.
The political furore around the case continued apace on Tuesday, with Kumaraswamy hinting that Congress deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar was aware of the videos, and had orchestrated the attack on the JD(S).
Shivakumar later dismissed the allegations.
”No one in Karnataka believes HD Kumaraswamy, everyday he changes his stand. I don’t have any evidence but I was told that senior leaders of the party helped him (Prajwal Revanna) to leave the country. Amit Shah condemned the incident but he said that it is their party issue and they will take action. They have to make it clear whether they want to be aligned with such people or not,” he told news agency ANI.
Revanna left the country for Germany on April 27, one day after the elections, with his father HD Revanna telling reporters on Monday that he would return if he was called for investigation.
