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JD(S) uses Vokkaliga card in Revanna case
Amid the sexual harassment case involving Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch HD Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna, the party has now used the issue about the Vokkaliga community and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar’s conspiracy to gain control of the state.
Amid the sexual harassment case involving Janata Dal (Secular) patriarch HD Deve Gowda’s grandson Prajwal Revanna, the party has now used the issue about the Vokkaliga community and deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar’s conspiracy to gain control of the state.
On Tuesday, the women workers of the JD(S) held protests in several parts of the state targeting Shivakumar for allegedly being the conspirator behind leaking the sex abuse videos. “For his political gains, to bring down JD(S), he ruined the lives of several women in Hassan. He released their photos and videos in public, ruining the lives of our women,” argued one of the protesters, who didn’t comment on the allegations against Prajwal Revanna.
“DK Shivakumar is targeting the Revanna family. They even got a case registered against Revanna. As the case had no material, they hatched a conspiracy and booked another case of abduction against Revanna,” Lingesh Gowda, another protester, said.
According to a senior leader in the know of the development, the JD(S)’ plan is to make the issue about the Vokkaliga community and Shivakumar’s conspiracy to gain control. “More than the government, HDK has been targeting Shivakumar because he is the Congress’s Vokkaliga face. While sex tapes are a legal issue and a matter of concern, the dynamics of caste politics work differently. If HDK can convince the community that Shivakumar tried to tarnish another leader from the community for his political gains, there could be an opening for the JD(S) to gain the support of the community,” the leader said.
Meanwhile, HD Kumaraswamy also focussed his allegations on Shivakumar, claiming that the former driver of the Revanna family, D Karthik, the person who leaked the controversial videos, was sent to Malaysia by the deputy chief minister.
The former chief minister questioned why the police did not take actions against people responsible for leaking the videos. While he said that Prajwal should be punished if found guilty, he added that the videos had affected the lives of several women. “It is now in the public domain that Naveen Gowda on April 21 at 8 pm announced releasing explicit videos on WhatsApp ‘in the next few seconds’. “Why no action has been taken against this? Then what is the role of SIT (Special Investigation Team)?” he asked while talking to reporters on Wednesday.
While Kumaraswamy and other JD(S) leaders have been careful not to support Prajwal its argument, the Congress leaders emphasised that the palpable anger against Prajwal’s alleged crimes remains a prominent issue. “The community is smart. They know what Prajwal has done and who are defending a rapist,” a senior Congress leader from Mandya said on condition of being anonymous.
At the state level, the Congress has been careful not to play into the JD(S) hands by making the issue - Kumaraswamy vs Shivakumar. Following the accusations by Kumaraswamy, several Congress leaders accused him of dragging the Vokkaliga community into the sexual abuse case and diverting attention from the urgent need for justice for the numerous victims. The leaders included ministers Krishna Byre Gowda, N Cheluvarayaswamy, M.C. Sudhakar, and Ramalinga Reddy, MLC Dinesh Guligouda and MP GC Chandrashekar
Byre Gowda said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Kumaraswamy held talks on the matter and they should undergo a “truth test” before the deity at Hasanamba temple in Hassan, a prominent temple in the district
“Instead of handing over USB drives related to the sexual abuse to state police chief or the chief Justice of the high court of Karnataka, BJP’s Devaraje Gowda gave them to BJP leaders and others...Did the Congress ask the Hassan MP to indulge in sexual abuse? Did the Congress ask MLA HD Revanna to kidnap a 62-year-old woman?” the revenue minister asked.
“The government is equally concerned about the circulation of videos and other materials and passed on the message to the SIT so that cases will be booked against all those people involved in further circulation of the videos,” he added.
