Whistleblower in Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case Devaraje Gowda booked for molestation
Bengaluru, May 10: A case of sexual harassment has been registered against BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda from Hassan, who had written to the saffron party leadership before it formed an alliance with the JD(S), flagging Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual abuse of several women, police said on Friday.
The FIR was registered against Devaraje Gowda, who is an advocate, on April 1 but it has come to light only recently after his whistleblowing in the Prajwal Revanna case.
Devaraje Gowda was the one who had alerted the BJP leadership last year about Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual abuse of several women, and cautioned the saffron party not to give a Lok Sabha ticket to the JD(S) MP from Hassan.
ALSO READ: Prajwal Revanna sex scandal: Woman claims coercion to file false case
Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda, and is the BJP-JD(S) Lok Sabha poll candidate from Hassan.
The BJP entered into an alliance with the JD(S) last year.
Devaraje Gowda, who contested the 2023 assembly election against Prajwal's father and Holenarasipura MLA H D Revanna -- also accused in a case of molestation and another for abduction -- had blamed the Congress leadership in Karnataka for leaking the sexual abuse videos.
Devaraje Gowda has been booked on a complaint by a 36-year-old woman from Hassan district, who alleged that he molested her on the pretext of helping her sell her property.
The BJP leader was not available for comment.
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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.
