BENGALURU: Even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been making all efforts to take Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna into their custody, he is likely to return to the country only after the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka conclude on Tuesday.
After the obscene videos came out in public, Prajwal, 33, had reportedly fled to Frankfurt, Germany, on April 27, a day after the Phase II Lok Sabha elections. Prajwal, the incumbent MP from Hassan, is the NDA candidate for the same segment in the ongoing General Elections. It is believed that Prajwal later fled to Dubai. Hassan voted on April 26.
“In the wake of the remaining 14 Lok Sabha seats going to the polls on May 7, his return has been put on hold by the JDS and BJP leadership… he is likely to reach India on the intervening nights of Tuesday and Wednesday,” a highly placed source told TNIE.
He was expected to arrive on the intervening nights of May 3 and 4 but said that he would return only on May 6.
A Blue Corner Notice has been issued against Prajwal.
But the BJP-JDS leadership felt that his return to the country amid the 14 seats in Karnataka going to the polls on Tuesday may damage the prospects of the NDA candidates, a source added. According to sources, Prajwal has also been seeking the advice of one of the country’s top legal experts on the timing of his appearance before the SIT, as the latter has been studying the case.
With Phase IV of polling on May 13, including in neighbouring Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, speculation is rife whether Prajwal will return only on the intervening nights of May 15 and 16. “He has booked his ticket on the same date from Munich,” added the source. But BJP leaders, including Union Home Minister Amit Shah, have alleged that the Congress government, especially DyCM and KPCC president DK Shivakumar, helped Prajwal flee the country. The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, R Ashoka, said on Monday that even if Prajwal wins from Hassan, action will be taken against him.