B. Nagendra resigns from Karnataka Cabinet amid Valmiki Corporation scam row

Barely 25 days after returning to the Karnataka Cabinet, Planning and Statistics Minister B. Nagendra resigned on Friday over allegations of involvement in the embezzlement of funds from the State-run Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Ltd.

The Minister announced his decision to step down at a press conference at the State secretariat. Mr. Nagendra said he had no role in the scam but he resigned to avoid the embarrassment to the party and the government. He later submitted the resignation formally to Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who said he would take a call on it on Saturday in consultation with the party high command.

Mr. Nagendra, with tears in his eyes, also announced his decision to quit the membership of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and challenged the BJP to face him in the Ballari Rural Constituency (ST reserved).

At the press conference, Mr. Nagendra was accompanied by Ministers Ajay Singh, Rizwan Arshad and MPs Nasir Hussain and G.C. Chandrashekar at the State Secretariat.

This is the second time Mr. Nagendra has resigned from the Cabinet over the same issue. He had earlier resigned on June 6, 2024, when he was Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare, Youth Empowerment and Sports in the Siddaramaiah government.

The four-time MLA from Ballari Rural is the first Minister to quit the Cabinet since D.K. Shivakumar became Chief Minister on June 3. Mr. Nagendra was re-inducted into the Cabinet on August 3.

Mr. Nagendra decided to step down after Mr. Shivakumar met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other senior leaders in Delhi. He was also in the national capital and is understood to have decided to resign after discussions with the party’s central leadership.

The Opposition BJP and JD(S) had mounted pressure on the government for his resignation during the recent monsoon session of the Legislature. Although Mr. Nagendra sought to invoke the Dalit issue to defend his continuation in the Cabinet, the Opposition’s decision to undertake a 10-day padayatra from Raichur to Ballari from September 1 over the alleged scam appears to have increased pressure on him to quit.

Mr. Shivakumar, who had earlier described Mr. Nagendra as a “disciplined soldier of the party”, told reporters later in the day that Mr. Nagendra had resigned because he was hurt and not because he was guilty. The BJP’s campaign for his resignation, he said, showed their intolerance of a Dalit’s ascent to power. The Chief Minister also said that the Governor had written to him regarding prosecution proceedings, and he would consult the legal experts in this regard.

Sources in the party said Mr. Nagendra’s continuation had increasingly become a liability for the Shivakumar-led government, particularly since the alleged irregularities occurred during the previous Siddaramaiah government.

The possibility of Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot granting sanction for prosecution, following a plea by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is also believed to have influenced the decision. The Governor has reportedly written to the State Cabinet seeking clarity on Mr. Nagendra’s continuation in the Ministry.

The Enforcement Directorate has already filed a chargesheet in the alleged multi-crore scam in the corporation.

During the Siddaramaiah government, Mr. Nagendra announced his resignation at a press conference at the State Secretariat in June 2024. On that occasion, the BJP had taken out a march from the Secretariat to Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor Gehlot seeking his resignation over the alleged financial irregularities in the corporation. The BJP had also demanded a CBI probe. The CBI and the Enforcement Directorate subsequently investigated the case.

The alleged fraud came to light after corporation accounts superintendent P. Chandrashekharan was found dead on May 26, 2024. In a note, he had alleged that funds were illegally transferred from the corporation to various accounts, including those allegedly linked to IT companies and a Hyderabad-based cooperative bank.