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‘Always painful’: HD Deve Gowda's son-in-law CN Manjunath on Prajwal Revanna case
In an interview to HT's Kumkum Chadha, Manjunath spoke on several issues including link between heart attack and Covid vaccines, his political plunge and more.
Cardiologist-turned-politician Dr. CN Manjunath on Sunday reacted to the sexual assault case involving his kin Prajwal Revanna, saying “It's always painful to hear such things."
In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times' Kumkum Chadha, Manjunath said about Revanna,"For the past 35 years, all the children are living separately. We see them only during some family functions, otherwise there is no intimate contact. Whenever such events happen, it is always painful to hear such things and these things nobody can support."
Manjunath, fielded by the BJP as an NDA candidate in Lok Sabha elections, defeated incumbent Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar's brother and then MP DK Suresh from Bangalore Rural.
During the HT interview, Manjunath spoke on several issues including link between heart attack and Covid vaccines, his political plunge, nepotism in politics and more.
Political plunge
Manjunath is the son-in-law of former prime minister HD Deve Gowda. His brother-in-law HD Kumaraswamy has served as Karnataka chief minister and is currently a central minister in the Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.
ALSO READ: Medical achievements led me to enter politics: Manjunath
When asked how the Gowda family connection influenced his election, he said,"Although I come from a political family, I kept myself away from politics. On January 31, I retired from the institute. Post-retirement, there were a lot of felicitations. During those events, people started asking me why don't I go at a national level."
“At the same time, the Lok Sabha elections were notified. The people were talking about my candidature. The BJP persuaded my father-in-law (Deve Gowda) and my brother-in-law (Kumaraswamy),” he said.
On being asked whether Deve Gowda dissuaded him from politics, Manjunath said,"It's correct. My father-in-law said that politics is a different game. You are a committed doctor and people hold you in high esteem. For someone who has a long experience, he said this. Even my wife was not agreeing. I had not even dreamt that I would be contesting the election."
Covid-19 and heart attacks linked?
When asked whether the vaccines contributed to increased heart attacks post-Covid, Manjunath said,"It has gained more attention as celebrities have died due to heart attacks. People started thinking whether it was happening because of Covid. During active Covid infection, people have died due to heart attacks as it was promoting clot formation in the arteries of the heart resulting in heart attacks and arteries of the brain causing stroke."
“But vaccine-induced heart attack is very rare. For every 10 lakh people vaccinated, chances of getting a heart attack are 4-5 people,” he added.
