PORN-GATE: Palemar, Savadi, Patil quit over blue film row

[email protected] (CD Network)
February 8, 2012

Thrimurti


Mangalore, February 8: In an unprecedented development in Karnataka politics three prominent ministers in chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda led cabinet on Wednesday have quit over watching 'blue film' clippings on a cell phone during assembly proceedings in Legislative Assembly.

Yielding to the mounting pressure from within and outside the party Minister for Ecology, Environment and Dakshina Kannada district in-charge Minister Krishna J Palemar, Minister for Cooperation Laxman Savadi and Women and Child Welfare Minister C C Patil on Wednesday morning sent their resignation letters to the Chief Minister.


The three ministers formally announced after a meeting with top leaders that they have decided to quit. “We don't want the party and the government to face further embarrassment. All of us have decided to resign from the Ministry”, Mr. Savadi told reporters outside the BJP office.

Mr. Savadi and Mr. Patil demanded that the Speaker of the State Assembly K.G. Bopaiah institute a probe into the issue of watching the porno video footage and expressed confidence that “they would come clean from the allegations”.

Mr. Palemar said he was contemplating legal course over the issue.

Under the directions of BJP National President Nitin Gadkari, Mr. Gowda today held a meeting with the state unit Party President K.S. Eswarappa, former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa, senior Ministers Jagadish Shettar and Govind Karjol in the party office and decided to ask the three ministers to put in their papers.

Speaking to the media persons, the Chief Minister said that all the three ministers had already sent their resignations to him. He had accepted their letters and forwarding them to Governor Bharadwaj to complete the formalities, he added.

Mr Gowda said that the ministers had maintained that they were innocent but quit on their own to avoid any further embarrassment to the party. An independent probe would bring out the truth, he added.

Mr Savadi was 'caught' by television cameras on Tuesday watching sexually explicit video on a cellphone inside the Assembly.

The footage showing Mr. Savadi watching the footage was shot by TV cameramen perched behind in the elevated media gallery. Mr. Savadi was sitting in the front row of the House. Less than an hour after the session concluded, TV channels beamed the uncensored visuals, each claiming the footage to be “exclusive.”

The channels also showed Minister for Ecology, Environment and Ports J. Krishna Palemar as well as Women and Child Welfare Minister C.C. Patil peeping into Mr. Savadi's phone and gesturing mirthfully.

Mr Savadi later revealed that the mobile on which he watched the sex video indeed belonged to Mr Palema. He also said that Mr. Palemar was showing him a video wherein a woman was gang-raped in a western country.


Speaking on behalf of the party, Yeddyurappa said the ministers have voluntarily tendered resignation on moral grounds and none of the party leaders including Nitin Gadkari had any role to play. "Inquiry will be conducted and soon truth will be out," Yeddyurappa said. Sources said that the party had decided last night itself to take their resignation, but was awaiting for Yeddyurappa to come back from tour of Bidar. All the three ministers are staunch followers of Yeddyurappa and were pitching for his comeback as the chief minister.

Opposition leader Siddaramaiah not only sought his resignation, but also urged the Speaker not to allow Savdi, Patil and Palemar to attend the assembly. Speaker K G Bopaiah has convened an emergency meeting of business advisory committee (BAC) involving leaders of ruling and opposition to discuss the conduct of the members.

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News Network
May 6,2024

Bengaluru, May 6: Arrested JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna, the son of former PM H.D. Deve Gowda, on Sunday said that there is no evidence against him in the sex video scandal kidnapping case and that it was a "conspiracy" against him.

Talking to the media, while being taken for a medical test before being produced in front of a court here, Revanna stated that a kidnapping case had been lodged against him though he does not have 'one black mark' against him in his entire career of 40 years.

"Without evidence, I have been targeted... All allegations against me are false. My arrest has been made out of ill intention," he claimed.

"The case was lodged on April 28, then, they did not have any evidence. Later, the fake evidence was created on May 2 and I was fixed," he alleged.

Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara stated on Sunday that a Blue Corner notice has already been issued against Revanna's son and MP Prajwal Revanna, the prime accused in the sex video scandal, as he is believed to be abroad.

"The Interpol will communicate to all nations and he will be located. Once he is located, the SIT will take a call on how he should be secured and brought back to India," he added.

Revanna was arrested on Saturday on charges of kidnapping one of the victims of the sex video scandal.

Parameshwara further maintained that the arrest of Revanna has saddened JD-S leaders and if action was not taken, the SIT would be blamed too.

Meanwhile, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge refused to comment on the alleged sex video scandal involving Prajwal Revanna.

About Revanna's arrest, he said that the SIT would initiate action as per the law. "Those indulging in such acts must be taught a lesson and justice should be given to the families of victims. No one can escape the law. No one should use this case politically," he stated.

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News Network
April 29,2024

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Bengaluru: All India Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba on Monday accused the BJP and JD(S) of being silent over the alleged sex scandal involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna and said the horrifying case of violence against women has shocked the nation.

"More than 3000 videos with hundreds of women being sexually harassed, violated and even brutalised by MP Prajwal Revanna over the past few years have shaken the conscience of Kannadigas and Indians alike," she told at a press conference here.

Prajwal (33) is grandson of JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. JD(S) joined the NDA in September last year. He was the NDA candidate in Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, which went for polls on April 26.

According to police sources, he left the country after voting was over.

The Congress government in Karnataka on Sunday constituted a Special Investigation Team to probe the alleged sex scandal.

Some explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal had started making the rounds in Hassan in recent days.

Lamba said the horrifying case of sexual violence against hundreds of women has shocked the nation.

"These acts of sexual brutality against hapless women has revealed the depravity of MP Prajwal Revanna, but the silence and sheer apathy of the BJP and JDS in this horrendous case is absolutely shameful," she said.

She alleged that in these videos, some recorded against the consent of the victim, women are seen pleading to be spared but the MP continues to brutalise and sexually violate them. Party 'karyakartas', panchayat members, elderly women, women who came asking for help to him and even maids have not been spared.

"The horrible fact is, that the acts of this sexual predator MP Prajwal Revanna was endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he campaigned in Old Mysuru Region on April 14th, 2024," she alleged.

"....the BJP JDS are still silent which shows you their true Anti Woman DNA!! Will the BJP or JDS answer?".

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News Network
May 4,2024

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has written to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, urging him to extend all possible help to the victims of JD(S) leader Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual abuse.

In a letter to Siddaramaiah, Gandhi condemned the actions of Revanna, an MP from Hassan in Karnataka, and accused him of enjoying immunity with the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

In a veiled attack on Modi, the Congress leader said he has never come across a senior public representative who has constantly chosen silence in the face of untold violence against women.

"I request you to kindly extend all possible support to the victims," Gandhi said in his letter to the Karnataka chief minister.

"They deserve our compassion and solidarity as they fight their battle for justice. We have a collective duty to ensure that all parties responsible for these heinous crimes are brought to book," he added.

Describing the incidents as "horrific sexual violence" unleashed by the incumbent Member of Parliament, Gandhi alleged that Revanna sexually assaulted and filmed hundreds of women over several years.

"Many who looked up to him as a brother and son were brutalised in the most violent manner and robbed of their dignity. The rape of our mothers and sisters warrants the strictest possible punishment."

"I am deeply shocked to learn that as far back as December 2023, our Home Minister Shri Amit Shah was informed by Shri G Devaraje Gowda about Prajwal Revanna's antecedents, especially his history of sexual violence and the presence of videos filmed by the perpetrator," the former Congress chief said.

He said what is even more shocking is that despite these gruesome allegations being brought to the notice of the seniormost leadership of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre, Modi campaigned and canvassed for a "mass rapist".

"Furthermore, the Union government wilfully allowed him to flee India to derail any meaningful investigation. The deeply perverse nature of these crimes and the absolute immunity enjoyed by Prajwal Revanna with the blessings of the Prime Minister and Home Minister deserves the strongest condemnation," Gandhi said.

"In my two decades in public life, I have never come across a senior public representative who has constantly chosen silence in the face of untold violence against women. From our wrestlers in Haryana to our sisters in Manipur, Indian women are bearing the brunt of the Prime Minister's tacit support for such criminals," he alleged.

In this backdrop, Gandhi said the Congress has a moral duty to fight for justice for "our mothers and sisters".

"I understand that the Karnataka government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the grave allegations, and a request has been made to the Prime Minister to cancel Prajwal Revanna's diplomatic passport and get him extradited to India at the earliest," he said.

H D Revanna, the Janata Dal (Secular) MLA from Holenarasipura in Karnataka's Hassan district, is the son of former prime minister and JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda and elder brother of former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy. He is facing allegations of sexually abusing women.

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