Prajwal Revanna 'Sexual Abuse' Case Intensifies Kumaraswamy vs Shivakumar Feud

While Gowda is the undisputed leader of the Vokkaliga community, Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar hope to take over.

Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) supremo HD Deve Gowda, was suspended from the party on Tuesday, 30 April, after complaints accusing him of sexually abusing several women surfaced, sparking a political storm in Karnataka.

(Photo: Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

Even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probes allegations that Hassan's sitting MP and suspended Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S)) leader Prajwal Revanna indulged in serial sexual abuse of women in his constituency, the scandal has turned into an opportunity for Prajwal's uncle – former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy – and Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar to take their long-standing political rivalry to another level.

Even after Hassan went to polls on 26 April, when the issue of Revanna's purported obscene videos became viral through pen drives, randomly strewn in public places of the constituency, the sparring between Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar (along with his brother, MP DK Suresh) has continued unabated.

The verbal duel between the two leaders has overshadowed the SIT inquiry, which has received two complaints from the sexual assault victims so far.

Five years ago, the equation between 65-year-old Kumaraswamy and 62-year-old Shivakumar – both of whom belong to two influential Vokkaliga families in Karnataka – was that of an unwavering bond.

"We are the original jodiyetu (pair of oxen),'' Kumaraswamy had said, standing in a bullock cart and locking his hand with Shivakumar next to him, during the roadshow held in Mandya prior to his son, actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy, filing his nomination to contest from the Mandya Lok Sabha seat back in 2019.

Kumaraswamy was the then chief minister in the coalition government of the Congress-JD(S) alliance formed in 2018, while Shivakumar was a minister in the state Cabinet.

But the yoke of the oxen soon broke as the fragile relationship, formed out of political compulsions, came apart after the Kumaraswamy-led 13-month coalition government in the state fell in July 2019.

Now, with the Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case, the political feud between HD Kumaraswamy and DK Shivakumar is more evident than ever.

A Long-Standing Rivalry Between the Two Families

A JD(S) functionary told The Quint that the Kumaraswamy-Shivakumar relationship was not expected to last as the tussle between the two dates back to 1985, when the latter contested against JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.

In three elections, two Assembly polls and one Lok Sabha poll, Gowda and Shivakumar contested against each other.

In 1985, Gowda defeated Shivakumar from Sathanur (which was renamed to Kanakapura after the 2008 delimitation) and in 1989, Shivakumar defeated Gowda from the same constituency.

In the 2002 by-election held in the Kanakapura Lok Sabha constituency (renamed Bengaluru Rural), Gowda defeated Shivakumar.

While 91-year-old Gowda is the undisputed leader of the Vokkaliga community, both Kumaraswamy and Shivakumar are in the race to take over the mantle from him.

The Vokkaligas form the second largest community in Karnataka, after the Veerashiava-Lingayats, and roughly account for 15 percent of the state's total population of 6.11 crore, according to the 2011 census.

However, it must be noted that the socio-economic and educational survey, also known as the caste census report, submitted to the Karnataka government in February this year is yet to be made public.

In a vertical divide between the two communities, the Vokkaligas are dominant in the Old Mysuru area or southern Karnataka and the Lingayats in north Karnataka (Kalyan Karnataka and Mumbai Karnataka).

In nearly 60 odd Assembly constituencies in districts of Kolar, Chikkaballapur, Ramanagara, Mandya, Mysuru, Tumkuru, Chitradurga, Hassan, and Kodagu – besides the 28 segments of Bengaluru Urban – the Vokkaligas constitute the major chunk of voters along with the other backward classes, Muslims and Dalits.

Shivakumar has made his ambitions of becoming the chief minister public.

Addressing a poll rally in Mysuru during the 2018 Assembly polls, he said, "I am a representative of the community. Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has made me the party president, a post that has come to the community after 20 years. For me to become the CM, the Congress should come to power. For that, I ask people to rally behind me.''

He reiterated this appeal in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls as well at a meeting of the Vokkaliga community in Mysuru. Shivakumar pointed out that a Vokkaliga has received a ticket to contest from the Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency after 47 years.

"If the candidate is defeated, it will affect me and the community,'' he added.

Meanwhile, HD Kumaraswamy, who has been the Karnataka CM twice for short durations, is said to have set his eyes on becoming a minister at the Centre, if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returns to power.

The JD(S) is contesting three seats as the NDA's ally in Karnataka and Kumaraswamy is trying his luck from the Mandya Lok Sabha constituency.

However, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee Media and Communications chairman Ramesh Babu told The Quint that the Gowda family was losing their political identity within the Vokkaliga community in the aftermath of the Prajwal Revanna scandal.

"HD Deve Gowda sacrificed the Hassan Lok Sabha seat, which he used to represent, and gave it to Prajwal, saying that he is going to be my legacy, but with the obscene videos making global news, even the JD(S)'s ally, the BJP, will not accept the family,'' Babu added.

There are Vokkaliga leaders in the BJP such as R Ashoka, CN Ashwath Narayan and CT Ravi, who have been toiling for the party. "Why will they accept Kumaraswamy as the community's leader? The biggest challenge for Kumaraswamy is to retain his 19 party MLAs now,'' Babu said.

Impact of Prajwal Revanna's Case on Elections

The Prajwal Revanna sexual abuse case has exposed the chinks within the Gowda family.

As soon as the purported videos of the alleged assault of multiple women went viral, Kumaraswamy was quick to distance himself and said that it was not proper to link him or his father HD Deve Gowda with the issue.

"My brother HD Revanna's (also an accused in the case) family and my family don't stay together. Don't drag Gowda or me into the issue,'' Kumaraswamy said.

The Prajwal Revanna scandal has split the Gowda family as the tussle for political supremacy between members of the Kumaraswamy and Revanna families has been going on for a long time.

Revanna's entire family is in public life. He is the MLA representing Holenarsipura in Hassan district while his wife Bhavani is a former Zilla Panchayat member. Prajwal is the sitting MP from Hassan and Suraj Revanna is an MLC.

The political ambitions of Bhavani are such that she had declared herself as the JD(S) candidate from Hassan Assembly constituency in the 2023 state elections and had started campaigning until she was halted following Gowda's intervention. The Hassan ticket was then given to a party worker, HP Swaroop, who won.

Kumaraswamy is the lone member in his family, who is in electoral politics.

His wife, Anitha Kumaraswamy, was an MLA twice and gave up the Ramanagara seat, which she had won in 2018, to her son Nikhil. He was unsuccessful in the 2023 Assembly polls, which came after his defeat from Mandya in the 2019 elections.

Even as both Shivakumar and Kumaraswamy indulge in a political slugfest, a common thread between them is the Ramanagara constituency.

Deve Gowda contested from Ramanagara in 1994 and became the chief minister, but vacated after he became the prime minister in 1996. Kumaraswamy represented the constituency in 2008 and 2013.

Ramanagara is an assembly segment of the Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency held by DK Suresh.

Interestingly, the conundrum of this constituency is that Kengal Hanumanthaiah, Deve Gowda, and Kumaraswamy all became chief ministers of the state but none of them could complete their term in office.

(Naheed Ataulla is a senior political journalist based in Bengaluru. This is an opinion article and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)