Karnataka MP Prajwal Revanna was today suspended from the Janata Dal (Secular) or JD(S) amid a row over explicit videos – allegedly showing him sexually assaulting multiple women.
Prajwal Revanna – a sitting MP from Karnataka’s Hassan constituency – has also been issued a show cause notice by the party.
The video clips, allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna, surfaced on social media a day after his constituency went to polls.
The scandal involves hundreds of explicit videos that were allegedly shot by the Mr Revanna – grandson of JDS chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda – and were circulated widely in the Hassan constituency.
This was followed up by a woman filing a police case against Prajwal Revanna, accusing him of sexual assault. She alleged she had been sexually abused multiple times between 2019 and 2022.
The complainant also claimed that Prajwal Revanna misbehaved with her daughter over a video call and had “vulgar conversations” with her.
The woman alleged that Prajwal’s father HD Revanna also sexually assaulted her when his wife was not at home.
Prajwal has denied the allegations and filed a complaint claiming that the videos being circulated are doctored.
The 33-year-old left for Germany Saturday morning, shortly after the videos emerged online.
Prajwal’s father HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case, is MLA from Holenarasipur constituency.
HD Revanna too accused political rivals of creating a conspiracy out of “old videos”.
The Karnataka government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to look into the obscene videos case.
The decision to set up the SIT came after the state women’s commission recommended the Siddaramaiah government to take action.
On reports of Prajwal leaving the country pending a probe, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said yesterday Prajwal will be asked to return to India by the SIT.
The Karnataka State Commission for Women chairperson Nagalakshmi Choudhary said that the pen drive she received had hundreds of explicit videos, some purportedly showing the sitting MP from Hassan.
BJP Leader Devaraje Gowda, who was the party’s Holenarsipura candidate during the 2023 Assembly elections, has also claimed that had written to then state president BY Vijayendra in December last year, flagging “grave allegations” against the HD Deve Gowda family, including Prajwal Revanna.
He claimed that he had received a pen drive containing 2,976 explicit videos of women – which were then being used to blackmail them into continuing to engage in sexual activities.
