In a sensational revelation, BJP leader G Devarajegowda, currently incarcerated on multiple charges, claimed that Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar offered him Rs 100 crore to accuse JDS State President HD Kumaraswamy of leaking pen drives containing videos of alleged sexual assault by Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna.
Speaking to a section of the media in Hassan after a bail hearing late Friday, Devarajegowda asserted, “They proposed Rs 100 crore to me, and even sent an advance of Rs five crore to Room 110 at the Bowring Club in Bengaluru.”
Devarajegowda accused Shivakumar of attempting to tarnish the reputation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defame Kumaraswamy.
He alleged that a committee of four ministers, including Agriculture Minister N Chaluvarayaswamy, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge, was orchestrating the scheme.
The BJP and JDS have formed an alliance in Karnataka for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
Devarajegowda stated he rejected the bribe offer and, as a consequence, faced a series of legal troubles. “Because I refused to collaborate with them, they first implicated me in an atrocity case, then a sexual harassment case, and finally a rape case,” he said.
He asserted that he has evidence to back his claims, adding, “The government will collapse once I am released.”
Having contested unsuccessfully against JDS leader HD Revanna in the 2023 Assembly polls, Devarajegowda was the first to implicate Shivakumar in the video leak controversy. His claims were further probed by SIT officials after Karthik, a former driver of Prajwal, alleged that he handed the incriminating pen drive to Devarajegowda.
Following the video’s emergence, letters from Devarajegowda to BJP leadership warning against an alliance with JDS due to the existence of the videos circulated widely.
In these letters, he advised the party of the potential political fallout.
This is not the first time Devarajegowda has made such allegations, he previously claimed that various offers were made to him, with Congress leader LR Shivarame Gowda acting as a mediator.
