The Congress attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, accusing them of fielding Prajwal Revanna — JD(S) MP and grandson of party supremo H.D. Deve Gowda — from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, despite being informed by the Karnataka BJP leaders about his sexual misconduct.
The JD(S) is fighting the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka in alliance with the BJP.
Also read | Revanna, Prajwal booked for sexual harassment; case transferred to SIT
A case has been registered in the State against Mr. Prajwal and his father H.D. Revanna, after a domestic help at the Gowda household filed a complaint. She alleged that four months after she started working for them, Mr. Revanna used to sexually harass her, and Mr. Prajwal used to make video calls to her daughter and have “vulgar conversations” with her.
In a post in Hindi on X, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra 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.” Mr. Prajwal is said to have left for Germany a few days back.
“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?” Ms. Vadra 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,” Mr. Ramesh said in a post in Hindi on X.
Later in the day, at a press conference at the party headquarters, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate accused Mr. Prajwal of molesting women of all age groups.
“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,” Ms. Shrinate said.
She pointed out that on December 13, 2023, BJP leader Devaraj Gowda wrote to the Prime Minister, the BJP president and the local BJP unit on the issue and later held a press conference in January this year. The issue was also raised during Home Minister Amit Shah’s trip to the State to finalise the alliance, with BJP leaders Preetham Gowda, A.T. Ramaswamy and others trying to dissuade him from it, 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!” Ms. 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.
