Bengaluru:

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JD(S) second-in-command H D Kumaraswamy on Monday alleged that 40 phones including his own and those of his family members and supporters are being tapped.

Even as he made an appeal to his nephew and Hassan JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna to come back to the country, Mr Kumaraswamy accused the government of spying on himself and his family.

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Home Minister Dr G Parameshwara dismissed the allegation as baseless and a means to gain publicity.

“Our phones are being tapped. I know it. Forty phones of people around me are being tapped. Whatever discussions are happening on phone are being monitored. H D Revanna’s phone is also being tapped,” Mr Kumaraswamy alleged.

Mr Revanna is H D Kumaraswamy’s brother who was released on bail in kidnapping and sexual assault cases.

The JD(S) ‘first family’ is in trouble after a huge cache of explicit videos showing many women being sexually assaulted and filmed allegedly by Prajwal became public.

Prajwal, grandson of former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda and son of Revanna, is hiding in a foreign country as the Karnataka government formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the case.

The 33-year-old JD(S) leader is the NDA’s Lok Sabha candidate from Hassan, against whom an arrest warrant has been issued by a court. Interpol has also issued a Blue Corner Notice seeking information on his whereabouts.

Mr Kumaraswamy appealed publicly to his nephew to return to India and cooperate with the investigation.

“Come back to India and cooperate with the investigation. How long this ‘police and thief’ game will go on? Your grandfather always wanted you to grow politically. If you want to honour his reputation, then come back to India,” he said.

He added that he has asked his brother Revanna to help bring back his son.

Mr Kumaraswamy, who is the JD(S) state president, claimed that if he knew beforehand about the explicit videos and sexual assault cases, he would not have allowed him to flee the country.

He also apologised to the victims of the sexual assault case.

“I once again publicly apologise to my mothers and sisters who are passing through painful mental agony. I understand their sufferings,” the JD(S) second-in-command said.

“I would like to say that many such cases have happened. The intensity of such cases may be high or low. It is such a case which is unacceptable and makes us hang our heads in shame,” he noted.

Accusing DCM Shivakumar of being the “architect” (“sutradhari”) of distribution of thousands of pen drives carrying the sexual assault videos, Mr Kumaraswamy said, “You (Shivakumar) are the lead person for distributing those pen drives. Case should be filed against Shivakumar and Shivarame Gowda.” The JD(S) leader was referring to an audio going viral in which senior Congress leader L R Shivarame Gowda is purportedly heard telling BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda to distribute pen drives containing the explicit videos.

“Distribute the pen drive and put the blame on Mr Kumaraswamy, creating an impression that he wanted to promote his son (Nikhil Kumaraswamy),” Shivarame Gowda has purportedly said in the audio.

He further allegedly “advised” Devaraje Gowda not to underestimate the JD(S) first family, including former PM Deve Gowda, Mr Kumaraswamy and other members of his family.

“The government is committed to ruin their (Deve Gowda and his family) lives. I am surprised why Deve Gowda has not died by suicide yet,” Shivarame Gowda is allegedly heard telling Devaraje Gowda in the audio clip.

In response, Devaraje Gowda allegedly told him that sharing these videos would badly affect the lives of many women. To this, Shivarame Gowda allegedly replied that there was no need to bother about it.

The JD(S) took to social media saying that the audio makes clear the intention of the Congress to finish Deve Gowda’s family.

Dismissing the accusation of phone tapping, Shivakumar, who is also Congress Karnataka unit president, said Mr Kumaraswamy and Revanna were not terrorists to warrant such action.

Speaking to reporters at his residence, he said, “Government taps phones of terrorists with due processes. There is no need to tap the phones of political leaders in the state. They are casting these aspersions for publicity.” He also said he has nothing to do with the “pen drive case”.

Home Minister Parameshwara too rejected the charge of phonetapping.

“I deny it totally. If he has any proof that his phone is being tapped by so and so… (he should bring it forward),” he told reporters in Hubballi.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

Senior JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday engaged in a war of words over the alleged sex scandal involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.

Mr Kumaraswamy, who is JD(S) second-in-command, accused DK Shivakumar of hatching the conspiracy of circulating the videos in public and then setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the matter.

“Bringing out truth of the main accused is just one part of it. How the pen drive was circulated, and the ‘great leader’ (Shivakumar) who circulated it, for what reason it was circulated, for how many months the ‘great leader’ was aware of it. These are the questions,” Mr Kumaraswamy told reporters in Hubballi.

He attended the core-committee meeting of the JD(S) held in Hubballi which recommended the suspension of Prajwal Revanna from the party.

Noting that his nephew will face the consequences if he has committed a mistake, the former chief minister said there was a need to discuss the ‘great leader’ (Shivakumar) who organised the protest against the JD(S) in Hubballi today.

Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda and nephew of HD Kumaraswamy.

The Karnataka government has constituted a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) of IPS officers led by Additional Director General of Police B K Singh to probe the alleged sexual harassment to many women by Prajwal Revanna, who is said to be in Germany at present.

Two days ago, an FIR was registered against Prajwal as well as his father Revanna at the Holenarasipura police station in Hassan district for sexually harassing their former cook.

Reacting to Mr Kumaraswamy’s allegation, Mr Shivakumar said the JD(S) first family has been remembering him for many years without which they do not get proper sleep.

“Kumaraswamy had said in the television interview that the BJP high command had cautioned him that he (Prajwal) is not good and think before giving him a ticket. He also said giving ticket to Prajwal was his father Deve Gowda’s decision,” claimed DK Shivakumar.

Terming the charges against Prajwal Revanna ‘serious’, the deputy chief minister said the matter here is women’s modesty.

“The information I got is that nearly 200 to 300 families, their honour, their relatives, their women and daughters, JD(S) party workers and those whom they gave jobs, contractors…. I have not seen them all (videos) but people are saying this,” Mr Shivakumar said.

The deputy chief minister also took a dig at the BJP leaders for not speaking about Prajwal Revanna case.

“This morning, Union Home Minister Amit Shah gave a statement asking people what the DCM is doing. He said there is no justice for women in Karnataka. You (Centre) sent a team of the National Commission for Women to Udupi when someone took photos (in a girls’ hostel), but why BJP leaders are not talking about it (Prajwal Revanna’s case)?” he asked.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Bengaluru:

Former chief minister Basavaraj Bommai accused Deputy Chief Minister and Water Resources Minister D.K. Shivakumar of misleading the people regarding the inflow of the Cauvery water.

While speaking to reporters, he said that Mr Shivakumar had said that there had been a heavy inflow of water. However, when they got information from the authorities, they said that the inflow was around 2,000 cusecs of water.

“Why is Shivakumar misleading people? Why he was speaking so lightly on this serious issue? It was not enough for the Dy CM to always talk about Brand Bangalore, but Cauvery water should be saved for Bangalore. Otherwise, it will be a ‘Bad Bangalore’,” he said.

Asked about a distress formula, the former CM said that before 2018, there was no such situation to implement the distress formula. After the establishment of CWMA, the problem of water has now come. So, it was necessary to implement the distress formula.

Further talking about the prevailing law and order situation in Shivamogga Mr Bommai said the stone palters and troublemakers have no fear for law in the incumbent Congress Government.

“It is unfortunate that Home Minister Dr G Parameshwar has described the Shivamogga incident as small. Houses have been stoned in Shivamogga. A similar incident has happened in Kolar also. The government was indirectly supporting such elements. The home minister’s statement has been childish. Due to this kind of attitude, the gamblers, anti-social elements, and rioters were roaming freely,” said Mr Bommai.

According to the police, a group of miscreants pelted stones at some vehicles and houses during the Eid Milad procession in the Shantinagar-Ragigudda area. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)