On Friday (17th May), BJP leader and advocate Devaraje Gowda made a major revelation asserting that Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar offered him Rs 100 crore to defame PM Modi and Former state CM HD Kumaraswamy. He added that Shivakumar had also sent him Rs 5 crores in advance and deputed former MLC M A Gopalaswamy to negotiate with him. Notably, he made these remarks while speaking with reporters from the Police vehicle when he was being sent to judicial custody on Friday.
Incidentally, Gowda, who drew public attention towards the Prajwal Revanna obscene videos and sexual exploitation case, was arrested by the Karnataka police a week earlier in an alleged sexual harassment and atrocity case.
Speaking with reporters while he was being taken away from the court premises in Hasan, Gowda said, “I was told to make a statement that it was HD Kumaraswamy who circulated the pen drives containing sex videos (involving Kumaraswamy’s nephew Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of ex-PM HD Deve Gowda). But it was DK Shivakumar who obtained the pen drive from Karthik Gowda, who worked as a driver for Prajwal Revanna, and planned the entire episode.”
According to Gowda, a team of four ministers, including N Cheluvarayaswamy, Krishna Byre Gowda, and Priyank Kharge, was formed to handle the developments relating to the Prajwal Revanna scandal case.
He added, “They had planned in a big way to bring disrepute to Prime Minister Modi, HD Kumaraswamy, and the BJP. They offered me Rs 100 crore and sent Rs 5 crore as advance to Room No. 110 at Bowring Club. A local leader from Channarayapatna, Gopalaswamy, was sent to negotiate the deal.”
DK Shivakumar made the Rs 100 crore offer to malign the name of Prime Minister Modi by linking him to the sex scandal. His main intention is to bring disrepute to Modi and BJP in the case. Besides, he wanted to defame H D Kumaraswamy’s leadership and finish him politically, Devaraje Gowda claimed.
Asserting that he was framed for not soiling PM Modi and Former CM Kumarswamy’s name, Gowda further stated, “When I refused to be a part of their plans, they first fixed me in an atrocity case, but couldn’t find any evidence. Later, they fixed me in a sexual harassment case. When this ploy also failed, they lodged a rape case against me. I was interrogated for four days, but they couldn’t get anything.”
“I have the audio recordings of Shivakumar’s conversations. I will release them and the Congress government will collapse once I am out of prison,” Devaraje Gowda asserted as the police vehicle drove off.
Earlier on 6th May, Gowda said that Shivakumar was behind the release of the pen drive containing videos of sexual assault. He had noted that Prime Minister Modi was the main target of the Congress party.
He had said, “I do not trust the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the sex scandal. I will submit all the evidence to the CBI. The videos in my possession are different from those which have been released.”
The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna, who is the nephew of JDS Supremo and Former CM HD Kumarswamy and grandson of former PM Deve Gowda, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexual exploitation of women. An Interpol Blue Corner Notice has been issued against Prajwal in an effort to bring the JDS leader back as he fled to Frankfurt, Germany after allegations against him surfaced.