Bengaluru, May 7 : Karnataka BJP leader G. Devaraje Gowda on Monday claimed that Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar is behind the release of the contents of a pen drive featuring videos of alleged sexual assault by JD-S MP Prajwal Revanna, the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

'The main target of the Congress is Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress government has arrested JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna (Prajwal Revanna's father). Now they want to cause a setback for the BJP in the state. H.D. Kumaraswamy is also their target. They also tried to make me an accused,' Devaraje Gowda said while addressing a press conference.

'I do not trust the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which is probing the sex scandal. I would submit all the evidence to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The videos which are with me are different from those which have been released,' he claimed.

Gowda also said that he was approached by Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar, and claimed to have audio recordings to prove it.

'The hero of the pen drive episode is Shivakumar. He offered me a Cabinet berth. I have information about how the pen drive was prepared, and the role of the Congress candidate from Hassan, Shreyas Patel, in the entire episode,' he said.

'The SIT SP, Suman D. Pannekar, forced me to withdraw the statement against the Deputy Chief Minister. That is why I don't trust the SIT,' he claimed.

He also alleged that the former minister L.R. Shivarame Gowda had called him and forced him not to take the names of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister Shivakumar.

He claimed that despite giving names, locations, and phone numbers of those who distributed the contents of the pen drive, none of them has been arrested.

'Now, they are trying to put all the blame on me. They tried to strike a deal with me. They offered a Cabinet berth for not talking against the state government, the Chief Minister, and the Deputy Chief Minister. However, I rejected their offer,' he claimed.

Devaraje Gowda had unsuccessfully contested the Assembly elections against H.D. Revanna, who was arrested by the SIT on Saturday in connection with the kidnapping of an alleged victim of sexual abuse at the hands of his son Prajwal Revanna, who is absconding.

Meanwhile, Shivakumar dismissed the allegations as 'baseless', saying that he had nothing to do with the release of the contents of the pen drive.

'Devaraje Gowda contested elections on a BJP ticket. He is an active member of the BJP. The JD-S and the BJP are embarrassed with the Prajwal Revanna case and hence they are trying to do damage control by shifting the blame on me through Devaraje Gowda,' the Congress leader said.

'Devaraje Gowda tried to meet me to discuss the pen drive matter and other internal issues of the BJP, but I could not meet him due to the paucity of time. I will share with the media what he tried to discuss with me once I am back in Bengaluru,' he said.

'Devaraje Gowda had addressed a press conference and said that he would release the contents of the pen drive after holding discussions with the BJP leaders. When it is evident that Devaraje Gowda and the BJP were behind the release of the contents of the pen drive, why are they trying to accuse me?

"The JD-S and the BJP are behind this blame game. I am currently travelling, and I will issue a statement on this once I am back in Bengaluru,' Shivakumar said.

/IANS