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Karnataka Today newsletter: For embattled JD(S), Prajwal Revanna scandal makes the going tougher in State, and more

For an embattled Janata Dal (Secular), which has been struggling to retain its identity and relevance in Karnataka politics, the alleged sex scandal involving its incumbent MP in Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, has come as a new blow. It has not only embarrassed the party and the family of the party’s patriarch, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, it has also put the party in the spot over its future course of action against Mr. Gowda’s grandson.

JD(S) State president and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy has called the allegations an embarrassment to not just the party, but society in general. “The embarrassment could have been avoided if the matter was brought to our attention well in advance,” he said on April 29. Given the magnitude of the scandal, sources say the party might decide to suspend both Prajwal Revanna and his father H.D. Revanna (also named in a sexual harassment FIR filed on April 28).

Meanwhile, Mr. Revanna said his son was travelling but would return whenever required by the SIT, set up by the government of Karnataka to investigate the allegations of sexual harassment. “Prajwal Revanna had no knowledge of the case or the formation of the SIT,” he said.

BJP MP from Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar and former Union Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad, who was undergoing treatment at a private hospital here, died on April 29, according to family sources. He was 76. Prasad is survived by his wife and three daughters.

Mr. Prasad, who emerged as a Dalit leader, spent a considerable portion of his political career in the Congress party, with which he had a love-hate relationship. The six-time MP from Chamarajanagar and two-time MLA from Nanjangud in Mysuru district had announced his retirement from electoral politics on March 18 this year, citing ill-health. This had marked an end to his almost 50 years in public life.

In keeping with his wishes, the last rites will be performed as per Buddhist rituals at the B.R. Ambedkar Educational and Cultural Trust on Mananthavadi Road in Mysuru on April 30.