Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday pinned the blame on the Congress government in Karnataka for the delay in taking action over the obscene clips that allegedly showed former prime minister HD Deve Gowda’s grandson and NDA candidate Prajwal Revanna sexually assaulting several women.
Speaking to reporters, Amit Shah said the BJP’s stand is clear on the issue – that it is with the “matrushakti” (mothers or women).
“The BJP’s stand is clear that we stand with the ‘matrushakti’ of the country. I want to ask Congress, whose government is there? The government is of Congress Party. Why they have not taken any action till now? We do not have to take action on this as this is a law and order issue of the state, state government has to take action on it,” he said.
The Union Minister said the BJP favours a probe in the case and pointed out that their alliance partner JD(S) is also set to take a step at a party meeting, PTI reported.
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“It is very serious, we cannot tolerate it. We want to ask Congress that despite being in power, why hasn’t the government acted yet? Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) ji should ask their Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister,” said Shah.
Priyanka Gandhi had earlier criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the sex scan involving the JD(S) leader.
Prajwal, a sitting MP from Karnataka’s Hassan constituency, is contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, but the JD(S) has sought to distance the BJP from the case.
The BJP is an ally of the JDS and has been criticised for not prevailing on the ally to replace Revanna from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency.
BJP leaders said Devaraje Gowda, a leader of the party from Hassan district, had warned the state leadership about allegations that Revanna was sexually abusing women months before his name was announced as the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate for Hassan.
Devaraje Gowda wrote a letter asking state party chief BY Vijayendra to bring this information to the attention of national leaders.
At a rally yesterday, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the prime minister of protecting those who committed atrocities against women.
“The person (Prajwal Revanna) who shared the stage with PM Modi and for whom Modi asked votes committed atrocities on thousands of women. I want to ask PM Modi and HM Amit Shah what they want to say about it,” she asked.
The purported sex tapes of Prajwal Revanna surfaced on Saturday, a day after his constituency went to polls on April 26. On Sunday, he left for Frankfurt, Germany, pending a probe against him.
The police have lodged a case of sexual harassment and stalking against him while the Karnataka government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter. The SIT will ask him to return to India, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said yesterday.
The Janta Dal (Secular), formed by Deve Gowda, has also reportedly decided to suspend Prajwal over the sex clips, according to his uncle and former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy. But an official announcement is pending.
(With inputs from PTI)