JD(S) MLA Revanna remanded to judicial custody till May 14 in woman kidnap case
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka JD(S) MLA and former Minister H D Revanna, who is facing kidnapping charges, was remanded to judicial custody till May 14 by a Magisterial court here on Wednesday.
Also, his bail petition before a sessions court has been posted for Thursday.
After the completion of four days of police custody, the 66-year-old Revanna, son of JD(S) patriarch and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, was produced before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate. .
The court remanded him to judicial custody for seven days till May 14.
Revanna was in the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) after being arrested in the alleged case of kidnapping a woman, based on a complaint by her son, who also charged that the MLA's son and MP Prajwal Revanna had sexually assaulted her. The woman was subsequently rescued, according to police.
The sexual abuse allegations involving Prajwal raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.
While the Congress government has formed a SIT to probe the cases, the BJP and JD(S) -- NDA partners -- have demanded that it be handed over to the CBI.
Alleged explicit videos involving Prajwal started making the rounds ahead of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 26.
The Chairperson of Karnataka State Commission for Women Chairperson Dr Nagalakshmi Chaudhary wrote to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and state police chief Alok Mohan seeking a probe into the videos that were in circulation in Hassan, following which the Congress government formed the SIT on April 28 to investigate the case.
Prajwal, who contested as the NDA candidate in the polls from Hassan, reportedly left the country on April 27, a day after the polls. He has skipped summons issued by the SIT to appear before it.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
