Hassan Election Result 2024: Will Sexual Abuse Case Affect Prajwal Revanna's Re-election Bid?

Ahead of the Lok Sabha electiions 2024 counting on Tuesday, all eyes are on the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency, where suspended Janata Dal (Secular) leader Prajwal Revanna, currently in police custody over rape and molestation allegations, seeks re-election.

Prajwal, the NDA candidate now in SIT custody, faces off against Congress's Shreyas Patel. The constituency sees a crowded field with a total of fifteen candidates, including twelve independents.

According to the India Today-Axis My India exit poll survey, the Hassan MP could potentially defeat Congress candidate Shreyas Patel.

Votes in Hassan were cast during the second phase, coinciding with Prajwal Revanna's entanglement in an alleged sex scandal.

Political analysts remain uncertain about the outcome. JD(S) leaders argue that the sexual abuse case has not significantly penetrated rural areas of the district and may only affect the party in Hassan city. Conversely, Congress leaders claim the scandal has spread rapidly, leading to widespread rejection of the NDA candidate.

Despite the allegations, JD(S) leaders anticipate a victory margin of over one lakh votes. In contrast, Congress leaders predict a win by more than 50,000 votes.

Hassan is a Vokkaliga stronghold, with former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Prajwal Revanna's grandfather, having won here five times.

Interestingly, Congress candidate Patel's grandfather and former Karnataka minister G Puttaswamy Gowda also won from Hassan in 1999, defeating Deve Gowda. The two grandfathers faced each other twice in assembly elections, with Deve Gowda winning in 1985 and Puttaswamy Gowda in 1989. Puttaswamy Gowda also contested against Deve Gowda's son HD Revanna twice in Holenarsipur, losing both times.

Shreyas Patel narrowly lost the Karnataka assembly elections from Holenarsipur last year, by 3,152 votes to HD Revanna.

In 2019, Prajwal Revanna defeated BJP's A Manju Hassan by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes. Notably, former Prime Minister and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda had defeated the Congress candidate by one lakh votes in the 2014 general elections.

Now, it remains to be seen who will win the battle of the grandsons.