Deve Gowda issues ‘stern warning’ to Prajwal to return, surrender to police

JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda has issued a “stern warning” to his grandson and Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who has left the country and gone into hiding ever since multiple charges of sexual assault and abuse surfaced against him.

The former prime minister’s warning to his grandson came in the form of an X post, on a day when Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah wrote a second letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking that Prajwal’s diplomatic passport be cancelled. In reply, Union minister Pralhad Joshi said there was a “process” to cancel a diplomatic passport and stated that the Centre was ready to cooperate in bringing Prajwal back to the country.

“Should be given the harshest punishment” 

In his letter posted on X, Deve Gowda said while he was not in a position to convince anyone that he was unaware of Prajwal’s alleged misdeeds, all he could do was issue a warning to him to surrender before the police. “If he does not heed to this warning, he will have to face my anger and anger of all family members,” wrote the 91-year-old politician.

“I have already said that he should be given the harshest punishment under the law if found guilty,” he wrote in the letter. “My son and former Karnataka Chief Minister Shri HD Kumaraswamy has advocated this line since the day the scandal broke,” he asserted.

“No desire to shield him”

“I also cannot convince people that I was unaware of Prajwal’s activities. I cannot convince them that I have no desire to shield him. I cannot convince them that I am not aware of his movements, and that I was not aware of his foreign trip,” added the veteran politician.

“At this juncture I can do only one thing. I can issue a stern warning to Prajwal and ask him to return from wherever he is and surrender before the police. He should subject himself to the legal process. This is not an appeal that I am making, it is a warning that I am issuing. If he does not heed to this warning, he will have to face my anger and anger of all his family members. The law will take care of the accusations against him, but not listening to the family will ensure his total isolation. If he has any respect left for me, he has to return immediately,” wrote the JD(S) patriarch.

“Will not interfere in inquiry”

He also added that he would ensure that there is no interference in the inquiry against Prajwal from him or his family members. “There is no emotion in this regard in my mind whatsoever, there is only the cause of justice for those who have suffered as a result of his alleged actions and misdeeds.

Deve Gowda wrote that it was of utmost importance to him to “earn back the trust of the people” who “have stood by [him] for over 60 years of [his] political life”. “I am deeply indebted to them. As long as I am alive, I will never let them down,” he signed off.