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| "Congress sat on evidence against Prajwal Revanna for a year": Nirmala Sitharaman | | |  agencies
PUNE, May 4: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today claimed that the Congress government in Karnataka did not take action against JDS leader Prajwal Revanna, accused of sexually abusing women, for about a year despite being aware of the matter.
The Congress was afraid it might lose the Vokkaliga votes and stayed silent until the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections was over, she said at a meeting with select journalists in Pune.
"The Union Home Minister made it very clear that we will not tolerate the matters that go against women and we stand united on that. Though the alliance partner has this issue, we have made it clear that it was unacceptable, and let it be investigated," Ms Sitharaman said when asked if the scandal would impact her party's performance in Karnataka in the ongoing elections.
A driver reportedly gave a pen drive allegedly containing evidence of Revanna's acts to Congress and the Karnataka Home Minister. But they sat on this evidence for about a year, she said, adding that "now the BJP is made to answer because the JDS is in alliance with us."
The ministers of the state knew what was in the pen drive but did not think that women's safety should be their priority, Ms Sitharaman alleged.
"They thought the Vokkaliga votes might go from their hands and decided to remain silent until the first phase of Lok Sabha got over. Now they are making it a big issue and pushing it which is typical of Congress and shows their hypocrisy," the BJP leader further said, asking why a probe was delayed for one year.
The Karnataka government is now writing to the PM about the case, asking him to issue look-out notices against Prajwal Revanna and bring him back from abroad. But the Union Home Minister had clearly said that the Karnataka government can take all the action it wants, she said.
Asked about BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh's son Karan Singh getting a BJP ticket from UP's Kaiserganj constituency, Ms Sitharaman said the allegations against the MP had not been proven yet.
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh is accused of sexually harassing women wrestlers. |
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