Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda and nephew of former Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy, was defeated by Congress's Shreyas Patel in his family bastion Hassan by a margin of 43,588 votes. This is the first time that JDS is losing in its home turf, which was once represented by the ex-PM himself five times.
The downfall of the 32-year-old son of H.D. Revanna, is primarily attributed to the sex abuse videos leaked in the constituency ahead of the polls. After pen drives and CDs containing the explicit videos were distributed anonymously four to five days ahead of April 26, when the first phase of Karnataka election was held. This is suspected as the reason for a massive number of NOTA votes in Hassan in the April 26 election.
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It all began with Karthik, the Revanna family's former driver, leaking the videos from Prajwal's phone. Karthik was at loggerheads with the Revanna family over a land dispute in Holenarsipura, according to The Times of India. In December 2023, Karthik filed a complaint against the Revanna family, alleging that Prajwal and his mother Bhavani Revanna forced him to hand over the land. Following this, Karthik allegedly accessed the videos to blackmail the family.
Karthik then contacted BJP leader G. Devarajegowda regarding the videos. Though Deverajegowda has maintained that he was not behind the video leak, his rivals have plotted the circulation of video ahead of the polls in Hassan.
On April 27, a day after the election, Prajwal fled to Frankfurt, Germany, sparking widespread outrage across the nation as the news of rape and sexual harassment allegations hit the headlines. Prajwal's grandfather Deve Gowda said he has no objection against arresting the MP if the allegations are proven. Kumaraswamy urged his nephew to return if he is not guilty.
Following a month of hiding, Prajwal landed in Bengaluru on May 31 and was arrested by SIT formed by Karnataka police. He was reportedly not cooperating with the investigators, claiming that he was a victim of a political conspiracy.
His mother, Bhavani, is also wanted in the kidnapping of a house help who was allegedly sexually harassed by the JDS scion. Police are hunting for her after she went hiding and switched off her mobile phone. The SIT is also trying locate Prajwal's "lost iPhone" and access deleted data.
Prajwal who was leading in the initial rounds was surpassed by Patel. In 1999, Patel's father Puttaswamy Gowda defeated Deve Gowda. The two elder Gowda's locked horns against each other in the assembly elections too, with the JDS supremo winning in 1985 and Puttaswamy in 1989.
