Amidst the Lok Sabha elections 2024, the case of Karnataka’s JDS (Janata Dal Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna remains in the news. Revanna has been accused of sexually exploiting hundreds of women. He is the JDS candidate from Hassan seat and voting has already taken place here. However, JDS may have to suffer losses in other seats. Voting will be held on 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state on May 7 and the Revanna issue can have a big impact here.
In Karnataka, JD(S) is part of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA alliance. In such a situation, the opposition parties are also targeting the ruling party on this issue. The NDA alliance may suffer losses in other states also due to this. However, this is not the first case when a ‘sex scandal’ has affected politics. In 1978, BJP leader Maneka Gandhi’s magazine had ended Babu Jagjivanram’s politics by revealing a similar case. Had this not happened, he could have become the first Dalit Prime Minister of the country.
Son broke father’s dream of becoming PM
When Janata Party came to power in 1977, Morarji Desai, Chaudhary Charan Singh and Jagjivan Ram were contenders to become Prime Minister. Morarji Desai sat on the PM’s chair. Jagjivan Ram became the Defense Minister and Chaudhary Charan Singh became the Home Minister. However, the path to becoming PM was also open for Jagjivan Ram and Chaudhary Charan Singh. Chaudhary Charan Singh’s dream was fulfilled in 1987, but his son’s ‘sex scandal’ broke Jagjivan Ram’s dream.
Maneka Gandhi revealed
In 1978, a magazine named Surya exposed the ‘sex scandal’ of Babu Jagjivan Ram’s son Suresh Ram. The editor of this magazine was Maneka Gandhi. Many obscene pictures of Suresh were also published in the magazine. It is said that these pictures first reached Indira Gandhi and she was told that she could bring Babu Jagjivan Ram into her fold by blackmailing her. However, Indira refused to do so, but Maneka, who was present there, published the photographs in her magazine. The woman who was with Suresh in these pictures was his alleged girlfriend and both of them got married after the obscene pictures were revealed. However, amid all this, Jagjivan Ram was completely out of the race for the post of Prime Minister.
Ajmer scandal changed politics
In 1992, a ‘sex scandal’ related to Sophia School of Ajmer came to light, in which sexual exploitation of more than 100 girls aged 17-20 years came to light. The main accused in the case, Farooq Chishti, had earlier implicated a girl. He took obscene photographs of her and blackmailed her and continued sexually exploiting her in the farm house. Put pressure on that girl and asked other girls also to bring the forms. After this, one by one more than 100 girls became its victims and daughters of IPS and IS were also included in them. The exploiters also included leaders who are said to be associated with the Congress. Most of the accused in this case were from one community. Because of this, the matter also took a communal color and this matter also contributed to the defeat of Congress in the elections held in 1996.
Allegations against Brij Bhushan increase BJP’s problems
In January 2023, Indian women wrestlers had accused the then wrestling association president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh of sexual exploitation. In this matter, the country’s top wrestlers also protested in several pieces for almost a year. After this, Brij Bhushan Singh had to stay away from wrestling and this also affected his politics. In place of Brij Bhushan, who dominates Gonda, his son has been given the ticket. It is clear that the party’s hold in the area will not be as strong as it would have been if Brij Bhushan had got the ticket, but if he was given the ticket, the opposition could make it a national level issue and BJP is maintaining distance from controversial faces in this election. At the same time, due to Brij Bhushan case, resentment towards Bharatiya Janata Party has increased in Punjab Haryana also. Its effect is sure to be visible in the elections. Now the issue of Revanna arising from South India may increase problems for the ruling party.
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