New Delhi, April 29: The Congress today rapped Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union Home Minister Amit Shah for ‘turning a blind eye towards the brutal and barbaric sexual misdeeds and exploitation’ of Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and ‘even supporting him in these elections’.
Prajwal Revanna is the BJP-JD(S) candidate from the Hassan parliamentary constituency. He is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here today, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate pointed out that the BJP leaders had duly informed the party high command in writing well in advance that Prajwal Revanna was involved in brutal and barbaric sexual scandal where he had exploited thousands of women who included domestic helps, party workers and legislators.
He had not even spared a 63-year-old domestic help who is seen in a video crying and pleading with him not to do what he was doing with her, Ms Shrinate disclosed.
The Congress spokesperson also showed the photographs of Revanna, sharing the stage with Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah. She pointed out this was despite the fact that a senior BJP leader had informed the party and addressed a press conference months before the elections.
She said, the Prime Minister and the union Home Minister cannot escape the responsibility for turning a blind eye and letting him fight as the BJP-JD(S) candidate from the Hassan parliamentary constituency. She said Modi even sought votes for him on April 14 in Mysuru.
Ms Shrinate questioned the silence of the union minister for Child and Women Development Smiriti Irani and the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women Rekha Sharma on the matter.
She observed, this was typical of the BJP’s leadership to protect the culprits of sexual harassment and exploitation. She pointed out, Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh still continues to get the protection of the Prime Minister and he has still not been dropped as a party candidate.
The Congress spokesperson blasted the hypocrisy of BJP’s slogans of ‘Nari Shakti’ and ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’, when actually its leaders have been protecting and patronising those who have brutally exploited women.
She disclosed that the moment it came to notice of the Karnataka government a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to probe the matter. She said, although Revanna has fled the country the moment SIT was constituted, the SIT was trying its best to get him extradited to face the law.