NEW DELHI, Apr 29 : The Congress on Monday attacked the BJP over the alleged sex scandal involving the grandson of JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda, with party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asking whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain silent on the matter.
The opposition party also asked why the BJP went ahead with its alliance with the JD(S) when a BJP leader had written to the party’s Karnataka unit president, exposing the presence of a pen drive full of “sleaze videos of Prajwal Revanna”.
The Congress also asked that whenever there is crime against women, the prime minister, his government, the BJP and its machinery always protect the perpetrators of such crimes.
A case of sexual harassment and stalking was registered on Sunday against former prime minister Deve Gowda’s son H D Revanna and grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna respectively.
The case was registered on a complaint by their cook, who alleged that four months after she started working for them, H D Revanna used to sexually harass her and Prajwal Revanna used to make video calls to her daughter and have “vulgar conversations” with her.
In a post in Hindi on X, Priyanka Gandhi said, “The leader with whom the PM gets photographed by placing his hand on his shoulder. The leader for whom the PM himself campaigned 10 days ago. Praised him on stage. Today, that leader of Karnataka is absconding from the country.”
“Just hearing about his heinous crimes committed is heart-wrenching. This ruined the lives of hundreds of women. Modi ji, will you still remain silent?” the Congress general secretary said.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that in December 2023 itself, a BJP leader had informed the party leadership about the atrocities of Prajwal Revanna.
“Even after knowing about the atrocities of Prajwal Revanna, the prime minister personally demanded votes for Prajwal and said that ‘every vote received by Prajwal will strengthen Modi’. This is not surprising. Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, Kuldeep Sengar and now Prajwal Revanna – the prime minister has shown his true face time and again,” Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said Prajwal Revanna has been accused of sexual misconduct and thousands of videos show him molesting women from all age groups, and committing heinous crimes against them.
“These women are domestic workers, and party workers, MPs, and their lives have been destroyed by him. That’s the kind of man he is! These videos show how the lives of hundreds of women have been destroyed by him. One of the videos shows how a 63-year-old woman, old enough to be his mother or grandmother, is seen pleading to him,” Shrinate said.
“Did Modi not know about these? He knew exactly what is happening. On December 13, 2023, Modi’s leader BJP Devaraj Gowda wrote to the PM, the BJP president and the local BJP unit, talking about pen drives and Revanna’s sexual misconduct. In fact, in January 2024, Gowda did a press conference where he spoke about sexual misconduct and these thousands of videos,” Shrinate said.
In February and March, when Union Home Minister Amit Shah visited Mysuru to stitch the alliance with the JD(S), he was informed by thousands of workers and leaders, including from Preetham Gowda to AT Ramaswamy, not to make Prajwal Revanna a candidate in Karnataka as he is known to inflict sexual violence on women, inappropriately behaving with them on camera, she said.
“On April 14, the PM was seen sharing the stage with him. He not only praised him but asked for votes in his favour. That is who the prime minister is!” Shrinate said.
“Is this the first time the PM has stood with those who have been perpetrators of crimes against women, No. Will this be the last? Perhaps not,” she said.
Shrinate said that it needs to be pointed out that the moment this was taken up by the Commission of Women in Karnataka, after following the due process, a special investigation team (SIT) was set up and the same day he absconded and ran way to Europe.
“We are looking into his extradition and ensure that he faces the might of Indian law,” she said.
“Why is PM Modi silent? Despite knowing all the details, what explanation does the PM have for making him (Prajwal Revanna) his candidate — someone involved in sexual violence against women? Why is the Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, silent? Why is Rekha Sharma, Chairperson of the National Commission for Women, silent on this?” Shrinate asked.
Congress’ media and publicity department head Pawan Khera shared on X the letter written by BJP leader Devaraj Gowda to the Karnataka BJP president on December 8 last year. The letter exposed the presence of a pen drive full of “sleaze videos of Prajwal Revanna”, he said.
“Why did the BJP still go ahead with the alliance? Why no action was taken on the serial rapes video recorded and kept in the pen drive? Why did the PM campaign for and shared the stage with Prajwal Revanna despite knowing that Prajwal is the kingpin of world’s biggest and murkiest sex abuse?” Khera asked.
Who helped Prajwal Revanna escape to Germany, he asked. “Why is the PM silent?” Khera asked.
The complainant in the case has said she is a relative of HD Revanna’s wife Bhavani. She has alleged that there is a threat to her life as well as that of other members of her family. (PTI)
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