HASSAN: A Manju, whose petition in the Karnataka High Court led to the disqualification of Hassan JDS MP Prajwal Revanna on Friday, has the onerous task of defending his deed as he is now a member of JDS, to which Prajwal too belongs.
Manju fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls against Prajwal on a BJP ticket and lost. He later filed the petition before the HC, pointing out that Prajwal had filed a false affidavit by not declaring his full assets. Manju, in the meantime, joined JDS, taking advantage of the cold war between then Arkalgud JDS MLA AT Ramaswamy and party leaders. He contested as a JDS candidate from Arkalgud and won in the Assembly polls.
On Friday, he welcomed the verdict and said nobody is above the law and every citizen should abide by the directions of the court. “The future legal course will be decided after discussions with JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda,” he said.
For the last two months, Prajwal was getting ready for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and had been visiting various taluks, and meeting party workers. But with the disqualification, he will not be able to contest any poll for six years.
Devaraj Gowda, an advocate from Holenarasipur who too had filed a separate plea against Prajwal raising the same issue, said the court has given a historical verdict taking cognisance of his complaint. “The verdict proved that truth will always win,” he added. The HC also passed an order to issue a notice to Prajwal’s father and Holenarasipur MLA HD Revanna for allegedly violating the election code of conduct by sitting inside a polling station at Paduvalahippe village for 10 minutes during the parliamentary elections.
‘Will react only after studying judgment’
On the judgment, Prajwal Revanna said that he would react only after studying the judgment copy. Speaking to reporters in Holenarasipur, Prajwal said that he will also discuss the matter with lawyers and legal experts and decide the future course of action. He said he also will discuss the matter with his grandfather and JDS supremo HD Deve Gowda