‘Preetham spread Prajwal’s videos, can’t share dais with him’

Bengaluru: Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday expressed strong resentment over the BJP’s decision to include former MLA from Hassan, Preetham Gowda in its foot march to Mysuru.

Union Minister Kumaraswamy lashed out saying how was it possible for him to share the dais with Preetham Gowda who had distributed pen drives in connection with the sex video scandal involving Prajwal Revanna. Union Minister Kumaraswamy’s nephew Prajwal Revanna is the main accused in the sex videos case and he is presently in jail.

Talking to reporters in New Delhi, Union Minister Kumaraswamy, expressing strong outrage over the call to include Preetham Gowda in the BJP’s foot march to Mysuru, questioned, “Is it possible to share a platform with someone who has poisoned former PM HD Deve Gowda’s (his father) family?

“Are you inviting someone like Preetham Gowda, who is intent on destroying Deve Gowda’s family, to the meeting which I am attending? “Don’t you know who distributed the pen drives? Election alliances are one thing; politics is another.”

“The core committee, chaired by GT Deve Gowda, decided in Bengaluru on Tuesday that JD(S) should not participate in the foot march. BJP leaders have decided to go ahead with the march and are preparing for it,” he stated.

Kumaraswamy expressed dissatisfaction, stating, “Why should we support it if we are not taken into confidence? Our party has strength from Bengaluru to Mysuru. How can they decide not to take us into consideration?”

He expressed disappointment, saying, “I am saddened by this matter. Why should we support the foot march? Who is this Preetam Gowda? We know who distributed pen drives on the streets of Hassan. This person has poisoned Deve Gowda’s family. How can we share a platform with such a person?”

Preetham Gowda, a young gun from the party had won the Hassan seat for the BJP for the first time since 1999 breaking the dominance of the Deve Gowda family in 2018. The JD(S) had earlier won the seat for three terms successively. In 2023, the JD(S) candidate Swaroop Prakash had won with a thin margin of 7,854 votes.