Former Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy said his 90-year-old father - former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda - and his mother Chennamma are in "pain" following the alleged sexual abuse of several women by his nephew and MP Prajwal Revanna.
The JD(S) leader lashed out at Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for accusing him and Deve Gowda of consulting lawyers regarding the legal fight to protect the JDS MP from Hassan, and said he does not have humanity.
"I want to ask the Chief Minister of this state whether he has any respect for parents - I don't know from what culture you come from. Today you posted a statement on X stating that on one hand, Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy say that the accused must be punished while on the other, they called the lawyer to Deve Gowda's house to discuss how to save the accused and set things right legally," he said.
"This Chief Minister doesn't have humanity," he told reporters. "I don't want to speak about his family to take protection... My parents are in pain. To give them confidence so that things don't affect their life, to comfort them, I was with them in their house in Bengaluru both yesterday and the day before yesterday."
"Get video recordings from media persons stationed in front of our houses and see Mr Siddaramaiah as to which lawyer came to our house and how we discussed saving the accused", Mr Kumaraswamy said, addressing the Chief Minister.
"You may not have respect for parents, you may not have come from that culture. For me, my parents are important. I know about (my father's) 60 years of political life, and how my mother lived her life," he said.
The 33-year-old Prajwal Revanna is the son of HD Deve Gowda's elder son HD Revanna, who is an MLA and a former minister. Prajwal Revanna is the BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan, which went to the polls on April 26.
Explicit video clips allegedly showing Prajwal Revanna sexually abusing several women began making the rounds in Hassan soon after the polls ended. The state government has constituted a SIT to probe the allegations against the MP.
HD Kumaraswamy also flayed attempts at dragging Deve Gowda's name into the issue.
"You might not know or have forgotten how he has led his life. We have said several times now - that whoever has done wrong should face punishment. Yet such statements are being made," he added.
Siddaramaiah, the 'bete noire' of Deve Gowda, was together with the JD(S) patriarch for a long time politically as part of the Janata Dal and JD(S) before joining Congress.
Siddaramaiah on Friday alleged that Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy were consulting lawyers.
"Kumaraswamy and Deve Gowda, who said that they don't have anything to do with Revanna's family, have called a lawyer to their house and held discussions. When they went for the election campaign, they said, 'I am not different, Prajwal Revanna is not different. They all do political and sinful acts together'," the Chief Minister alleged.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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