Rape-accused Prajwal Revvana leads from Karnataka's Hassan constituency: EC

Janata Dal-Secular JD(S) candidate Prajwal Revvana was projected to win from the Lok Sabha constituency Hassan of Karnataka as per early leads by the Election Commission of India in the counting of votes for the 2024 general elections.

According to the apex poll body, Prajwal Revvana was ahead with a margin of 4682 votes from Hassan's seat some two hours after the start of the counting.

Shreyas M Patel of the Indian National Congress and Bahujan Samaj Party's candidate Gangadhar Bahujan are the other candidates against Revanna.

The Hassan Lok Sabha constituency was represented by former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda from 1991 to 1994, 1998 to 1999 and again from 2004 and 2014. This constituency comprises Hassan district and Kaduru Taluk in Chikmagaluru district.

A court in Bengaluru on Friday granted the State's Special Investigation Team (SIT) six-day custody of Revanna who was suspended from the JD(S) in connection with an alleged obscene video case.

Revanna was arrested by the SIT on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday upon his arrival in Bengaluru. Revanna had returned to India from Berlin, Germany, nearly a month after leaving the country supposedly on the night of April 26 after several obscene videos allegedly involving him surfaced on social media platforms.Revanna is facing a probe by the SIT over allegations of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation following a complaint by a woman who worked as a domestic help at his house.

Elections in Karnataka were held on April 26 and May 7, i.e., in the second and third phases of the election. Elections in Hassan were conducted on April 26.

Around 642 million people voted in Lok Sabha elections held over seven phases in a mammoth six-week period. The counting of votes began starting with postal ballot papers amid tight security.

The counting for State Legislative Assemblies of 175 Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and 147 Assembly constituencies in Odisha and results of by-polls in 25 Assembly constituencies also began.

Strict security has been put in place for the smooth conduct of counting of votes for over 8,000 candidates in this general election.

With counting began for the Lok Sabha elections, which have seen the largest voter participation, the electoral fate of several leaders across the political spectrum will be decided.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are among the senior BJP leaders in the fray.

In the 2019 elections, NDA wrested 353 seats, of which the BJP won 303 alone. The Opposition's UPA got only 93 seats of which the Congress got 52.

The Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing a third straight term in power, while the Opposition under the umbrella of the INDIA bloc is seeking to wrest power from the ruling party.

The Lok Sabha elections were conducted in seven phases- on April 19, April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.