MP Prajwal Revanna Loses JD(S) Bastion Hassan Amid Sexual Assault Allegations

According to data from the Election Commission of India (ECI) website, Janata Dal-Secular (JDS) candidate Prajwal Revanna is losing by 23,418 votes in Karnataka's Hassan constituency (as of 12:40 PM). Congress candidate Shreyas M. Patel presently leads with 5,14,485 votes, while Prajwal has 4,91,067 votes.

As the counting of votes progresses, the BJP-JD(S) coalition has won five of the 28 Lok Sabha seats, while the Congress has won four, surpassing its record of one seat in 2019. Karnataka remains a focus because it is one of the three states where the Congress holds power.

Janata Dal (Secular) leader Revanna was arrested by the Special Investigation Team as soon as he landed at Bengaluru's Kempegowda International Airport on May 30. The Karnataka MP, who had been in Germany for over a month, finds himself embroiled in a scandal involving accusations of sexual harassment. Revanna, who clinched the Hassan Lok Sabha seat in 2019 and was vying for it in the 2024 Loksabha elections, had twice earlier cancelled flights home. A special court in Bengaluru rejected an anticipatory bail request. Meanwhile, the police searched his home in Hassan, Karnataka, and seized "incriminating material."

Revanna Sexual Assualt Scandal 

The alleged videos of Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and the nephew of former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy, first surfaced on April 23, three days before the constituency's election. As the dispute grew, the Hassan MP left for Germany on April 27, a day after voting in Hassan.  The alleged sex videos of Prajwal Revanna assaulting multiple women may have cost him and the Janata Dal-Secular the Hassan Lok Sabha seat, the only one the party won in the 2019 elections.

A Special Investigation Team was formed to investigate the charges, and a Blue Corner notice was issued to help locate the MP, but he proved elusive. Finally, following staunch arguments and a warning from Mr. Gowda and Mr. Kumaraswamy, the JDS leader returned to India and was arrested early on May 31. He was transferred to a city hospital for a medical examination and then to court for his remand hearing. The police had requested his custody for 14 days, but it was granted until Thursday.

Mr. Revanna posted a video message on X a few days before his return, "I apologise to my parents... I was in depression (over political rivals' attacks on the sex assault charges). I will appear (before the police team) on May 31. I will cooperate to the best of my abilities. I have the blessings of God."

More About Hassan Constituency 

Hassan is one of Karnataka's 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, with JD (S) nominee Prajwal Revanna facing off against Congress candidate Shreyas M. Patel. Following his first victory in 1991, JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda was re-elected in 1998, 2004, 2009, and 2014. In 2019, when the Congress and JDS formed an alliance, his grandson Prajwal Revanna defeated the BJP candidate A Manju by more than 1.14 lakh votes.

Manju, who ran on a Congress ticket in 2014, lost to HD Deve Gowda by more than one lakh votes. This time, the BJP has fielded incumbent Prajwal Revanna. A decades-old political struggle appears to be resurrected, with the Congress nominating Shreyas M.Patel, grandson of former party MP late G Puttaswamy Gowda, who had defeated Deve Gowda in 1999.

According to figures given by the Election Commission of India, the anticipated voter participation in the Hassan constituency was 77.68 percent for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, this seat had a turnout of 77%, compared to 73% in 2014 and 69% in 2009. While Hassan has always been a bastion of the JD(S), the allegations surrounding Prajwal Revanna have had an enormous impact on the political scene.

The Janata Dal Secular is contesting the Lok Sabha elections in an alliance with the BJP, and it currently leads by two seats. 

The BJP previously won 25 constituencies and is now leading in 16 of them. The Congress has increased its advantage from one in 2019 to ten, but if the figures hold, it will be disappointed because it won the Assembly elections convincingly in 2023, gaining 135 out of 224 constituencies. Winning 10 seats would indicate that it failed to convert its Assembly success into substantial victories in the Lok Sabha elections.