The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making concerted efforts to ensure that its electoral fortune in Karnataka is not adversely impacted by the accusations of sexual harassment against its ally Janata Dal (Secular)’s lawmaker Prajwal Revanna, who also contested polls from Hassan. On Monday senior leaders of the BJP asserted the party had no role in selecting the candidate for the seat, given it was allocated to the ally.
Attempting to insulate the party from the controversy that has singed its ally, party leaders in the central team and the state said the blame for Revanna’s alleged crimes cannot be laid at the BJP’s doors.
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“The BJP is not responsible for the selection of the candidate or for certifying their character if the contestant is from an alliance partner. The alliance is for election purposes, but the decision of candidate selection is not done by the BJP. Once the seat sharing was discussed, the authority to decide the candidate rests with the party that is contesting from the seat,” said BJP national general secretary Radha Mohan Das Agrawal.
Agrawal, who is overseeing the election in Karnataka also lashed out at the Congress party for targeting the BJP over Revanna. Responding to the charge that the BJP was aware of the allegations against Revanna, and could not persuade the ally to change the contestant from Hassan, he said, “The Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi are trying to politicise the issue, but they need to clarify do they decide the candidates for their alliance partners? They should admit if the candidates for the INDI parties (INDIA bloc) were selected by them.”
The Congress has accused the BJP of not prevailing on the alliance partner for dropping Revanna, despite being aware of the allegations against him.
State minister Laxmi Hebbalkar said, “Union home minister Amit Shah, Karnataka BJP chief BY Vijayendra knew about such CDs and videos as BJP leader Devarajegowda wrote a letter to BY Vijayendra and also spoke with him. When Amit Shah came to Mysuru, BJP leaders Preetham Gowda and AT Ramaswamy insisted not to form an alliance with JD(S),” said Hebbalkar.
But the BJP has distanced itself from the controversy and the outrage that has erupted following the complaint against Revanna.
Speaking at a rally in Bagalkot, Vijayendra, who is the state president, said, “The state government has initiated the formation of a Special Investigations Team (SIT) to probe the matter, and the investigations are underway. The truth will be revealed in due course.”
He said the “attempts to drag the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi into this issue are unwarranted and inappropriate.”
While he dismissed any impact of the controversy on the upcoming second phase of elections in the state, several party leaders admitted that the controversy has cast a shadow over the campaign outside Karnataka as well.
“The BJP cannot be blamed for the misdemeanor and crimes of candidates that are not from the party. This issue should have been dealt with by the JDS, as it was their seat and therefore, their call to take,” said a leader speaking on condition of anonymity. The leader said the JDS too has not defended Revanna and action against him is expected to be announced shortly.
“The family itself is divided over the issue. His uncle (K Kumarasway) has already said the family name and (former prime minister HD) Deve Gowda’s name should not be dragged into the controversy. But since the JDS is not contesting any of the upcoming seats, the opposition is trying to pin the problem on the BJP,” the leader said.
To a question on the timing of the controversy and the speculation that internal friction within the party may have resulted in the state leaders not conveying the possible fallout of Revanna’s alleged crimes to the central team, the leader said, “There were leaders who felt Hassan should have been retained by the BJP and there should have been resistance to Revanna’s candidature. The central high command had in turn conveyed this to the JDS, but it was their call.”
The controversy has set off concern about the elections in the upcoming phase on May 7, where the BJP is set for a face-off against the Congress.
Of the 14 seats going to the polls, there are several high-stake contests between the BJP and the Congress in seats such as Haveri, from where former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai is contesting, Shimoga2, where BY Raghavendra is contesting, Dharwad, from where Union minister Pralhad Joshi is fighting, and Uttara Karnataka, where Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri is the party’s candidate.
On May 7 polls will be held in Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttar Kannada, Davanagere and Shimoga.
