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Suspended Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna who is facing sexual abuse allegations was arrested in the early hours of Friday after he landed in Bengaluru airport from Munich, Germany. A Karnataka Police Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested him and he is likely to be produced in a local court on Friday morning.
The MP, who sought re-election as the NDA candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, left for Germany on April 27 soon after news broke out that the Karnataka State Commission for Women requested Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to order an investigation into the huge cache of explicit videos showing several women being allegedly sexually abused by him. So far, three cases of sexual assault have been registered against Prajwal, police sources said.
Two days ago, the Hassan MP released a video message in which he promised to appear before the SIT on May 31 and cooperate with the inquiry. As a last-ditch attempt to avoid arrest, Prajwal moved the Special Court for Elected Representatives here through his counsel on Wednesday, seeking anticipatory bail, but it was rejected. On May 18, the special court had issued an arrest warrant against Prajwal, following an application moved by the SIT. The SIT arrested his father and JD(S) MLA H D Revanna in connection with the abduction of a woman. Currently, he is out on bail.
In context: The political fallout of the case against Prajwal and what the Congress has to say will be among the developments to watch out for today. For the BJP, the allegations surfaced late last month at a time when it was heading into the crucial second leg of the Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka and it was believed that the accusations had the potential to cause some damage. At the time, the BJP defended itself by saying that it had no control over its ally’s choice of candidates.
A more damaging revelation was that local party leader G Devaraje Gowda, an advocate, had written to state BJP chief B Y Vijayendra about not renominating Prajwal from Hassan. On this, the party defended itself saying that though the central leadership had been kept in the loop about the allegations, the “information came from a person known for his proximity to H D Kumaraswamy, with whom Prajwal’s family has been having an internal feud”. Devaraje Gowda himself is accused in a sexual harassment case and is currently in police custody.
How the BJP handles the Prajwal episode going forward, what effect the case has on BJP-JD(S) ties, and what the Congress strategy is will be among the things to watch out for today and in the coming days as well. Follow all the latest details in this case and other Bengaluru news here.
Recommended reading: Newsmaker | Prajwal Revanna: In the Deve Gowda family feud, an agent provocateur
Modi meditation Day 2
Meanwhile, a day before voting in the seventh and final phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will continue his meditation for the second day at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari on Friday.
Heavy security arrangements are in place for the PM at the memorial, built in tribute to Swami Vivekananda. As many as 2,000 police personnel are on duty during his stay, even as the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy maintain a tight vigil.
In 2019, the PM undertook a similar exercise in a Kedarnath cave after the Lok Sabha campaign was over.
The Congress has objected to Modi’s meditation retreat arguing that it is a form of campaign during the silent period of 48 hours before polling and that no one should be allowed to campaign, directly or indirectly in this period.
