E-Paper
‘Don’t want to embarrass Congress’: Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigns amid funds case row
Nagendra resigned after returning from Delhi, amid opposition protests over alleged misappropriation of ₹89 crore from a state welfare agency
Prefer HTon Google
Karnataka minister B Nagendra, who is facing opposition protests over allegations that he was involved in a funds misappropriation case, submitted his resignation on Friday, 25 days after he was inducted into the state cabinet.
At a press conference in Bengaluru, a tearful Nagendra said he was stepping down to spare the Congress embarrassment and not due to opposition allegations of involvement in the misappropriation of funds from a state welfare agency that came to light in 2024. The Ballari Rural MLA, then tribal welfare minster, had resigned and was reinducted by chief minister DK Shivakumar as a cabinet expansion on August 3.
Nagendra seeks to resign as MLA
Nagendra, who returned from Delhi earlier in the day, requested the Congress leadership to allow him to resign as an MLA so that he could take on his detractors and clear his name.
Shivakumar said Nagendra met him after addressing the media and handed over his resignation, but added that he would consult the party high command before taking a final decision. He maintained Nagendra was innocent of the charges levelled against him.
The four term MLA, who had been given the planning and statistics portfolio by Shivakumar, said his resignation should not be construed as buckling to pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or the Janata Dal (Secular-JDS), whom he referred to as “ Manuwadis”. “It’s out of my own volition as I don’t want to embarrass the Congress party. I will tour the 15 Assembly constituencies reserved for the scheduled tribes in the state and explain how the Manuvadis (BJP and JDS) by repeating one lie have tried to make it the truth,’’ he said.
Opposition steps up pressure over funds case
The BJP and the JD(S) had disrupted the monsoon legislature session demanding Nagendra’s resignation over his alleged involvement in the misappropriation of ₹89 crore funds from in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation (KMVSTDC).
The BJP had announced a 10-day padayatra from Raichur to Ballari beginning September 1 demanding Nagendra’s resignation, which the opposition party announced will continue as there are other issues related to the 2024 case.
Nagendra accuses BJP of ‘Manusmriti mindset’
Nagendra said this was the era of BR Ambedkar’s constitution and not of the Puranas. “The BJP’s Manusmriti mindset is that no Dalit or women, or minorities or Adivasis should rise, but I will not allow this to happen,’’ he said.
He claimed that the state run Special Investigative Team and the Criminal Investigation Department had given him a clean chit. But the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which had initially not included his name in the investigations, had named him after he was inducted in the cabinet for the second time.
