‘King of blackmail’: DK Shivakumar says Prajwal Revanna’s uncle HD Kumaraswamy behind pen drives.

DK Shivakumar said finishing people’s political careers and blackmailing others were Kumaraswamy’s job. Congress leader and Karnataka’s deputy chief minister, DK Shivakumar on Wednesday accused HD Kumaraswamy of plotting to circulate thousands of pen drives containing the purported explicit videos of the latter’s nephew, Prajwal Revanna. A day after the JD(S) leader accused him of circulating 25000 pen drives before the Lok Sabha elections, DK Shivakumar called the former Karnataka chief minister the “king of blackmailing”. DK Shivakumar said HD Kumaraswamy was the “lead, director and producer of the story”. He claimed HD Kumaraswamy knew about the pen drives. He said finishing people’s political careers and blackmailing others were Kumaraswamy’s job. “Kumaraswamy knows about the pen-drive (containing explicit video clips) matter completely. A lawyer (Devaraje Gowda) and others are speaking. Kumaranna (Kumaraswamy) wants my resignation, it seems there is competition for the Vokkaliga leadership. Let me give resignation, as he wants it,” Shivakumar said sarcastically. “Finishing (politically) one after the other is his (Kumaraswamy) job. Blackmailing, (Kumaraswamy is) king of blackmail…he is threatening everyone, officers, politicians… Let him do it, there is time to discuss all this, let’s discuss in the Assembly,” he added. Prajwal Revanna is accused of featuring in or recording thousands of sexually explicit videos. The state government has formed an SIT to probe the allegations of sexual abuse against the Hassan MP. The authorities have arrested HD Revanna, Prajwal’s father, in connection with the kidnapping of a woman. On Tuesday, HD Kumaraswamy claimed 25,000 pen drives with videos of women being sexually abused — allegedly by his nephew — were circulated across Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He accused chief minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar of hatching a conspiracy.