Bengaluru, Dec 30 (IANS) Scams and scandals dominated Karnataka’s political scenario in 2024. The sensational cases involving Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, the family of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda and former CM B.S. Yediyurappa himself, have kept the political cauldron boiling in the state.
The already simmering political scenario has turned hostile with the alleged derogatory remark case involving BJP MLC C.T. Ravi and Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar.
With the Congress accused of an egg attack on BJP MLA N. Munirathna Naidu in Bengaluru at the fag end of the year, there are all possibilities of the hostile situation reaching a confrontational mode in the new year.
The Opposition BJP and JD(S) got ammunition following the surfacing of allegations of alleged irregularities against CM Siddaramaiah in the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA).
Buoyed by the success of the BJP, JD(S) alliance in the Lok Sabha election, both the parties ran a spirited show against CM Siddaramaiah.
A massive foot march was taken out by BJP leaders under state President B.Y. Vijayendra from Bengaluru to CM Siddaramaiah’s native place in Mysuru.
At present the Karnataka Lokayukta and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) are probing the matter naming CM Siddaramaiah as the first accused, his wife as the second accused and his brother-in-law as the third accused. CM Siddaramaiah became the first Chief Minister in the history of Karnataka to attend a Lokayukta investigation as an accused.
To add to the government’s woes, the Tribal Welfare Development Board case allegedly involving misuse of funds reserved for the welfare of tribes resulted in the resignation of Minister B. Nagendra.
Though, the Opposition is pointing fingers at Siddaramaiah as he holds the finance portfolio, the CM has out rightly denied his role.
The ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans being raised in the premises of the Vidhana Soudha by supporters celebrating the victory of Rajya Sabha Member Syed Naseer Hussain was discussed at the national level.
The BJP had also released the photos of the accused in the case with top national and state leaders leaving the ruling party red-faced.
The brutal murder of a college student Neha Hiremath in the college campus by her jilted lover Fayaz Kondikoppa had taken the state by storm ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The Opposition and family of the victim alleged love jihad.
However, the CM and Home Minister G. Parameshwara maintained that it was a case of a love affair gone wrong. Though they apologised to the family after pressure mounted on them, later, the charge sheet by the police in the case ruled out the love jihad angle.
The Waqf row came to the forefront in Karnataka recently as the BJP claimed that thousands of acres of land owned by farmers and Hindu religious institutions was claimed by the Waqf Board. The Waqf row threatened to snowball into a crisis by taking a communal angle.
However, the state government immediately plunged into damage control mode and declared that the notices to farmers would be withdrawn. It also pointed out that notices to farmers were also given during the BJP’s tenure and it also assured that temple properties would not be touched.
The Congress won the bypolls for three Assembly constituencies amid the controversy and claimed that the people had given a befitting answer to the BJP through the results, for its propaganda on the Waqf row.
However, it was not just the ruling party that was beset with woes. The BJP and JD(S) were also mired in scandals and troubles of their own.
The most prominent among them was the scandal involving the arrest of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda’s grandson and former JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna in a sexual assault and video case.
The release of sexually explicit video clips allegedly involving Prajwal Revanna created a furore in the state’s political circles and across the nation.
Prajwal was arrested in the wee hours of May 30 from the Bengaluru International Airport in connection with the sex video scam. Prajwal is facing charges of repeatedly raping women including party workers and a maid.
He is also charged with videographing the private acts and blackmailing the victims to co-operate with him.
Following the arrest of Prajwal, his father JD(S) MLA H.D. Revanna was also jailed in a kidnap case linked to the sex video scam.
Prajwal’s mother Bhavani Revanna obtained bail from the highest court and heaved a sigh of relief.
Later MLA Revanna’s son, JD(S) MLC Suraj Revanna was also arrested on charges of raping a male JD(S) party worker, giving another jolt to former PM Deve Gowda’s family.
Another scandal that shook the Opposition was former CM and BJP leader Yediyurappa being charged under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and IPC’s Sections 354(A) (sexual harassment), 204 (destroying document or electronic record) and 214 (offering bribe to another person to make them conceal an offence).
The charge sheet mentioned that the incident had taken place when the complainant had gone to meet Yediyurappa at his residence to seek his help regarding a sexual assault on her 17-year-old daughter.
It is alleged that Yediyurappa took the victim to a room and sexually assaulted her by touching her inappropriately. The charge sheet mentions that the girl resisted and came out of the room and afterwards, Yediyurappa had refused to help them.
However, Yediyurappa had refuted the charges and said that he was ready to face any case.
In more trouble for Yediyurappa, a report by the commission headed by High Court Justice John Michael D’Cunha has found that the former CM and then Health Ministers B. Sriramulu and K. Sudhakar were allegedly guilty of misuse of funds during the Covid pandemic.
The state government had formed a Cabinet subcommittee headed by Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar to study the report and discuss the actions to be taken.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi slammed the report by Justice D’Cunha and called him a political agent. However, following the complaint by the Congress to the Governor, Joshi apologised to Justice D’Cunha.
An FIR has been filed regarding the Covid scam in Karnataka recently.
The latest in this political potboiler is the derogatory remark row involving BJP MLC C.T. Ravi and Minister for Women and Child Welfare Laxmi Hebbalkar, which created political high drama at the fag-end of the year. The political drama surrounding the incident is likely to continue in the state well into the next year.
Meanwhile, Dy CM Shivakumar has declared that the Congress is all set to win the elections in 2028, and the BJP and JD(S) are accusing the ruling party of appeasement politics.
Political experts say that the stage is all set for political high drama in 2025.
–IANS
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