Indian Elections Rocked by Sex Scandal Involving Modi Ally

Facts

• Indian parliamentarian Prajwal Revanna of the Janata Dal Secular (JDS) party reportedly fled the country on Saturday, after videos that allegedly show him sexually assaulting multiple women circulated on April 26.¹
• JDS is reportedly set to suspend Revanna, its candidate for the Hassan district in Karnataka state, which voted in the ongoing Indian election on April 26.²
• Devaraje Gowda, a leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP party, claimed he had a pen drive of nearly 3K 'obscene' sex-assault videos of Revanna, which he said were used to blackmail the multiple victims.³
• At least one woman has filed a case against Revanna – who is the grandson of former Indian Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda – saying he 'kept calling me to his room' while she worked in his house.⁴
• The Karnataka government, led by JDS-rival Congress, launched a probe into the videos that emerged after voting ended on April 26, a day before Revanna fled.⁵
• HD Revanna, Prajwal Revanna's father and a co-accused in the one police complaint so far filed, has said the videos were '4-5 years old' and dubbed investigations into the potential evidence a 'conspiracy.'⁶

Sources: ¹NDTV.com (a), ²The Indian Express, ³India Today, ⁴News18, ⁵CNBCTV18 and ⁶NDTV.com (b).

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by India Today. Allegations of sexual harassment against JD(S) leaders HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna during the Karnataka election campaign have caused immense political embarrassment. Prime Minister Modi may have criticized the Congress government amidst these accusations, but the case has heightened political tensions and done significant damage to the reputation of top politicians in the middle of this election cycle.
• Narrative B, as provided by Mint. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP did not select Revanna as a candidate, so the responsibility does not lie with the national party. Congress is opportunistically politicizing the issue of an individual's criminal behavior. The JDS has announced the suspension of Revanna from the party, while also emphasizing the separation of Modi and BJP from the serious allegations that have been made.

Predictions