‘Mentally sick’: Shivakumar rubbishes BJP leader’s claim in sex videos case
"I don't want to speak about a person who is mentally sick. I appeal to his party to get him good treatment," Shivakumar says about Devaraje Gowda
Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and state ministers on Saturday (May 18) denied BJP leader G Devaraje Gowda’s allegations that they leaked the sex videos involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna in order to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shivakumar told the media: "Better, let him (Gowda) file a case before Lokayukta or any other agency. I think he has some problems mentally.
Shivakumar counters
“I'm very sorry, the national and state media shouldn't have picked up such baseless allegations. A person who is in jail, how can he make such allegations? All these are baseless.”
Asked if he will file a defamation case against Devaraje Gowda, the Congress leader said, "I don't want to make any comment or speak on a person who is mentally sick. I appeal to his party people to get him good treatment."
Gowda’s allegations
Devaraje Gowda, in custody after being arrested in a sexual abuse case, on Friday alleged that Shivakumar and four ministers were behind the circulation of the pen drives and he was being fixed in false cases as he did not agree to be part of their plan.
He alleged that he was offered Rs 100 crore by Shivakumar to "bring a bad name" to the BJP and Modi and to tarnish the image of JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy in Revanna's sex scandal.
Ministers deny
Shivakumar asserted his government's commitment to get justice for the women victims of the sexual abuse case and voiced confidence about the Special Investigation Team's probe.
The BJP leader also lashed out at four Karnataka ministers, including N Chaluvarayaswamy and Priyank Kharge, over the issue.
He said Shivakumar had asked him to say that Kumaraswamy was behind the distribution of the pen drives containing the obscene videos involving Revanna.
Priyank Kharge's argument
Kharge argued that if Gowda was speaking the truth, why didn’t he tell Union home minster Amit Shah about this.
"He could have got CBI, ED or IT raids done. Why didn't he do it? Claims have been made that he (Gowda) was sent Rs 5 crore as advance at a club. Let them get CCTV footage and see who were all there," he said.
Diversionary tactic
Chaluvarayaswamy said allegations about the role of Shivakumar and some ministers regarding the circulation of pen drives were baseless and he questioned Gowda's morality to make such accusations.
He said Gowda was being used to mislead so that attention could be diverted from the horrific case of sexual abuse made public by the sex tapes.
