‘Zero tolerance for such people… Karnataka govt should take action’: PM Modi on Prajwal Revanna sexual assault case

“As far as Modi is concerned, as far as BJP is concerned, as far as our Constitution is concerned, I am of the clear view that there should be zero tolerance for such people. Stringent punishment should be given using all the legal options available.”

Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of JD(S) chief H D Deve Gowda, the Hassan MP and Lok Sabha candidate for the same, has been faced with allegations of sexually assaulting several women as multiple videos of the incidents surfaced after the first phase of polling in the state. His father, the Holenarasipur MLA, H D Revanna, was also accused and later arrested on charges of kidnapping one of the victims.

While Prajwal was suspended from the party pending conviction of his guilt, he remains absconding and allegedly in Germany on a diplomatic passport. Meanwhile, his father maintains their innocence and has termed the allegations as politically motivated. JD(S) and BJP have formed an alliance in the state for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Noting the vast number of videos brought into evidence against Revanna, the Prime Minister alleged that the timeline extends beyond the BJP government in Karnataka.

“Yeh ek din ki toh hogi nahi. Iska matlab tab ka hai jab woh inke sarkar ke bhagidar the – Deve Gowdaji ke party aur Congress partner the, tab ka hai. Iska matlab unhone sarkar mein rehte hue yeh sara ekhatta karke rakha aur chunav mein bhi ek nishchit samaj ke logo matradan pura ho gaya woh block – Vokkaligas – uske baad usko bahar lana (The thousands of videos would not be of a single day which implies that it is of the time when JD(S) was in alliance with Congress. These videos were gathered when they were in power, and then released during election after a particular community – Vokkaligas- exercised their franchise,” he added.

“The videos were also released after the accused was sent out of the country. It is very suspicious. If you had the information, then they should have kept a watch, there should have been vigil at the airport. But they did not do anything, they also did not inform the Central government. This means it is a political tactic. They know that these videos are from the time they were in alliance, and they accumulated these videos then,” said the PM.

PM Modi added that the main issue now is bringing back the accused to India to faces the charges and consequences of his actions. “My issue is that any culprit should not be spared. This should stop in our country. We should bring him back and strict action should be taken against him. There should be no ifs and buts,” concluded PM Modi.