Cancel Prajwal Revanna's diplomatic passport: Siddaramaiah to Modi

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to direct the ministry of external affairs and ministry of home affairs to cancel the diplomatic passport issued to outgoing Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.

On the other hand, deputy chief minister D.K. Shivakumar said Janata Dal (Secular) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders must pay a visit to the victims in the Hassan sexual abuse case if they have any respect for women.

Prajwal Revanna (33), the grandson of JD(S) chief and former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, has been accused of committing sexual assaults against numerous women and recording the episodes, with the recordings apparently stored on a pen drive.

The outgoing MP from Hassan in Karnataka and the BJP-JD(S) alliance candidate for the ongoing Lok Sabha election, Revanna is the nephew of Kumaraswamy and son of former minister and current MLA H.D. Revanna, who has also been accused of sexual harassment by an employee of his household.

"According to reports, sensing the impending police case and arrest, the accused Member of Parliament and NDA candidate for Lok Sabha Prajwal Revanna has fled the country and travelled abroad on April 27 itself. It is learnt from reports that he is travelling abroad on his diplomatic passport," Siddaramaiah said in his letter.

He said while the special investigation team (SIT) formed by the Congress-led state government is working round the clock to investigate the allegations of crimes against women by Prajwal, getting him back to the country is of utmost importance so that he faces investigation and trial under the law of the land.

"In this regard, this is to urge you kindly to move the Ministries of External Affairs and Home Affairs to take swift action to cancel the diplomatic passport of Prajwal Revanna and to take such other steps using diplomatic and police channels of the Government of India as well as international police agencies to ensure the swift return of the absconding Member of Parliament to face the full force of law," the CM said in the letter.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters in Yadgir, Shivakumar said, “Kumaraswamy and BJP leaders talk a lot about women. If they really have any respect for women, they must express solidarity with the victims by paying them a visit.”

Asked about Kumaraswamy’s statement that a mahanayaka (great hero, in an apparent reference to Shivakumar himself)) was behind the leaking of the pen drive which brought the incident to light, he said, “Our party spokespersons have spoken at length about whom (BJP leader) Devaraje Gowda met with regarding the pen drive. Devaraje Gowda had met Kumaraswamy too regarding this, besides writing to BJP leaders. We don’t have any need to resort to such cheap politics. I will speak about this later.”

The alleged sex scandal involving Revanna is being investigated by a special investigation team (SIT) constituted by the Karnataka government. The MP, as Siddaramaiah wrote, is believed to have escaped to Germany immediately after polling in phase one of the Lok Sabha elections in the state on 26 April.

Nearly 3,000 explicit video clips allegedly showing Prajwal sexually abusing several women had begun doing the rounds in Hassan in recent days. Amid reports that Prajwal’s elder brother and MLC Suraj Revanna had met him, Shivakumar said, “Yes, he (Suraj) met me. You may ask him why he met me."

With inputs from agencies