Prajwal Revanna, Deve Gowda’s Grandson, Suspended from JDS as Sex Scandal Controversy Intensifies

Prajwal Revanna, a sitting MP from Karnataka’s Hassan constituency, has been issued a show cause notice by the party. The scandal involves hundreds of explicit videos that allegedly feature Mr. Revanna, grandson of JDS chief and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, and were widely circulated in the Hassan constituency. The scandal came to light a day after his constituency went to polls when video clips surfaced on social media. A woman has also filed a police case against Prajwal Revanna, accusing him of sexual assault.

She claimed to have been sexually abused multiple times between 2019 and 2022. The complainant also accused Prajwal Revanna’s father, HD Revanna, of sexual assault, alleging that the incidents occurred when his wife was not at home. Additionally, she stated that Prajwal Revanna had misbehaved with her daughter over a video call and had engaged in “vulgar conversations” with her. Prajwal has denied the allegations, filing a complaint claiming that the circulated videos are doctored.

Following the emergence of the videos online, he left for Germany on Saturday morning. His father, HD Revanna, who is also an accused in the case, is the MLA from Holenarasipur constituency. Both have accused political rivals of orchestrating a conspiracy based on “old videos.” The Karnataka government has established a special investigation team (SIT) to examine the obscene videos case, following a recommendation from the state women’s commission.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara announced that the SIT would request Prajwal to return to India for questioning. The chairperson of the Karnataka State Commission for Women, Nagalakshmi Choudhary, has confirmed receiving a pen drive containing hundreds of explicit videos, some of which purportedly feature the sitting MP from Hassan. Devaraje Gowda, a BJP leader and former party candidate, has claimed to have written to the state president in December last year, raising “grave allegations” against the HD Deve Gowda family, including Prajwal Revanna. According to him, the pen drive contained 2,976 explicit videos of women, which were being used to blackmail them into continuing to engage in sexual activities.