The Janata Dal (Secular) [JD(S)] party is likely to suspend Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna in a core committee meeting to be held in Hubballi on April 30. The JD(S) is holding a core committee meeting at 10 am on Tuesday to discuss its alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and also its strategy for campaigning in the remaining 14 Parliamentary constituencies, which go to vote on May 7.
Sources in the JD(S) said that while party supremo Deve Gowda will be making the final call, the party is likely to announce the suspension of Prajwal Revanna from the party, and he will be prevented from taking part in any party activities. “He will not be able to attend any party activities until the investigation is over and the party gets a report,” a source said.
Prajwal, who left for Frankfurt on April 27, is expected to return within a week. “We are preparing a statement to be released by him. He has to cooperate with the investigation. He cannot be unavailable, so he will be returning soon mostly in a week’s time,” the source said. At this time, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has not contacted the party members or Prajwal’s family. One victim deposed before the SIT today.
The core committee meeting will not be considering any action against Prajwal’s father, HD Revanna, the MLA of Holenarisipura and HD Kumaraswamy’s brother. “It is something to be addressed later,” the source said. An FIR filed in Hassan has also named both Prajwal and HD Revanna as sexually harassing women under various pretexts.
Prajwal Revanna has been accused of sexual abuse of multiple women, videos of which started doing the rounds two weeks ago.
Earlier in the day, JD(S) leader and former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy distanced himself and his family from the allegations surrounding his nephew and said that the videos doing the rounds have caused a great deal of embarrassment to his family.
The allegations against Prajwal came to light when a women’s rights group filed a complaint with the state women’s commission. The Commission then wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the state DGP requesting the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the case. The state government has now established an SIT, led by Additional DG IGP BJ Singh, to investigate all complaints related to this case.