Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigns over corruption allegations; breaks down while announcing decision

BENGALURU: Karnataka minister B. Nagendra resigned on Friday amid corruption allegations and continued protests by the BJP. Nagendra broke down while announcing his resignation at a press conference this evening.

This is the second time Nagendra has stepped down from the Cabinet over similar allegations. He had resigned as minister two years ago. He returned to the Cabinet in early August after D.K. Shivakumar became Chief Minister and was given charge of the Planning, Programme Monitoring and Statistics Department.

The BJP has primarily accused Nagendra of involvement in alleged financial irregularities worth Rs 89 crore in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. The controversy came to light in May 2024 after P. Chandrashekharan, the corporation's accounts superintendent, died by suicide. A suicide note alleging illegal transfers of money was also recovered.

A subsequent investigation found that large sums of money had been transferred from the corporation's bank accounts to various other accounts.

Asked whether the Congress high command had asked him to resign, Nagendra said he takes his own decisions. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, meanwhile, said Nagendra was innocent of the allegations. Shivakumar said he had examined all the reports and accused the BJP of treating Nagendra like a criminal.

At the press conference, Nagendra said he had faith in the Constitution. He claimed that he had invited the BJP several times to discuss the allegations in the Assembly, but the party did not turn up. He also questioned where the evidence against him was.

Nagendra accused the BJP of trying to impose the Manusmriti and alleged that the party had an anti-tribal mindset. He also claimed that he was being targeted because he was a Dalit.

Nagendra first won an election on a BJP ticket in 2008. He later won the Kudligi constituency as an independent candidate in 2013. He joined the Congress in 2018 and has since won the Bellary (ST-reserved) constituency twice in a row. Nagendra said he did not want to become an issue for the BJP's protest march.