HASSAN: In a double whammy for the first family of the JDS, the father and son duo of HD Revanna and Prajwal are facing the heat for alleged electoral malpractice. While the Election Commission has asked for action against the father, the High Court of Karnataka has published a notice in a local newspaper summoning Prajwal to appear before it. For Revanna, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda’s elder son, an allegation of having resorted to rigging a polling booth during the 2018 assembly polls has come back to haunt him. The Election Commission of India has written to its state counterpart, asking for action against the Holenarasipur MLA.
Subsequently, the state election commission wrote to the then Deputy Commissioner of Hassan, Akram Pasha asking for an action taken report to be submitted by August 5 this year. “Pasha has not replied and has neglected the direction,” alleged Congress leader Devarajegowda on Wednesday.
Revanna has been accused of entering a polling station in Paduvalahippe and spending some time inside after he had cast his vote. Two officials had been suspended after the incident came to light and had admitted that Revanna was inside the booth for a total of 26 minutes. However, present Deputy Commissioner R Girish said that the district administration had not received any such letter from the state or the central election commission.
For Lok Sabha member Prajwal, who has been accused of filing a false affidavit and incomplete papers with the Election Commission during the general elections this year, the summons came from the High Court in the way of a newspaper advertisement. Prajwal reportedly did not receive the notice sent to him earlier, following a petition filed by Devarajegowda and A Manju.
The court directed Prajwal to appear before it on September 30 and said that in case of a no-show, the petition would be heard and determined in his absence. The complainants had also approached the state election commission in a separate complaint. After three notices dispatched to his address on record, Prajwal still claimed that he had not received the notice, prompting the court to direct the petitioners to publish the notice in a Kannada local daily.