Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge speaking to media representatives at his residence in Kalaburagi on May 5.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Criticising BJP leaders for their selective approach in the cases of violence against women, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge questioned BJP leaders why they showed more interest in the case of the murder of Neha Hiremath in Hubballi than in the case of sexual abuse of hundreds of women by JD(S) leader and Lok Sabha member from Hassan Prajwal Revanna.

“As a matter of fact, BJP leaders are staring at a humiliating defeat in Karnataka. That is why they are desperately trying to flare up communal issues and mobilise majority community votes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, State BJP president B.Y. Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in Assembly R. Ashok and other BJP leaders have all shown much interest in Neha Hiremath’s murder case. But any of them has hardly spoken about the sexual abuse of hundreds of women in Hassan,” he said.

Speaking to media representatives at his residence in Kalaburagi on May 5, Mr. Priyank questioned why Prajwal Revanna, the leader of Janata Dal (Secular) which had a pre-poll alliance with BJP and incumbent Lok Sabha Member from Hassan, was given a ticket even after knowing his sexual abuse of women.

“JD(S) leaders knew about the Prajwal Revanna’s sexual crimes much earlier. Even BJP national leadership was notified about it by its local party functionaries. Even after knowing the sexual crimes of Prajwal Revanna against women, JD(S) fielded him in the current Lok Sabha elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself shared a dais with the accused and sought votes for him. Why is Mr. Modi, who speaks out on every issue, not opening his mouth on this issue?” Mr. Priyank said.

On the arrest of H.D. Revanna, the father of the main accused Prjwal Revanna in the Hassan sexual crime case, Mr. Priyank said that two cases were registered against the accused and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had acted as per the legal procedure.

“It is the responsibility of the government to give justice to the women who were subjected to sexual crimes. The entire community of politicians in public life is ashamed of the incident,” he said.

To a question about Prajwal Revanna’s uncle and former Chief Minister and H.D. Kumaraswamy taking exceptions to form SIT for probing the case, Mr. Priyank questioned whether the case should have been handed over to an NGO (Non-governmental Organisation) instead of SIT.