Karnataka Minister B Nagendra Resigns Amid Corruption Allegations, Accuses BJP of 'Anti-Tribal Mindset'

Barely 25 days after he was inducted into the cabinet of new Karnataka Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, Planning and Statistics Minister B Nagendra announced his resignation Friday in the wake of a sustained campaign for his exit by the BJP over a CBI chargesheet filed against him in an alleged corruption case. Announcing his resignation during a press meet held at the Vidhana Soudha, a teary-eyed Nagendra accused the BJP of having orchestrated his exit because of the party’s ‘anti-tribal mindset’. “I will be submitting my resignation to the chief minister. The BJP has painted me guilty because I belong to a backward tribal community… I would not like to cause embarrassment to my party and leaders and have decided to submit my resignation on my own,” Nagendra said. “During the session, we asked the BJP to discuss the allegations against me. But they did not want to, and there is no proof. It is an anti-Dalit mindset of the BJP. I am being attacked just because I am Dalit. The Manuvadis will not allow people like me to grow in politics,” he added. The exit of the Ballari Rural MLA from the cabinet also came after Governor Thawarchand Gehlot accorded sanction for the prosecution of the minister by the CBI in connection with the case of alleged misappropriation of funds of the state Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation when Nagendra was the ST welfare minister in 2023-24. “I am resigning out of respect for the constitutional office of the Governor, which has granted sanction for my prosecution. The sanction has been granted selectively even as the sanction for prosecution of leaders of the opposition has not been granted for over three years in some cases,” the Congress MLA said. Nagendra also suggested that he is considering resigning as the Ballari Rural MLA. “I will also soon resign as the MLA, and I challenge all the people who sought my exit to come to the court of the people and defeat me in an election.” Proposed BJP rally The sanction accorded for the prosecution of the Congress MLA by the Governor, and a BJP proposal to embark on a 170 km padayatra from September 1 in Raichur and Ballari districts – where the Congress enjoys good support – to demand Nagendra’s resignation is being seen in political circles as forcing the Congress’s hand in seeking his exit from the cabinet. Nagendra had previously resigned as the ST welfare minister from the cabinet of former Congress CM Siddaramaiah in 2024 – after allegations were levelled about the diversion of Rs 94.73 crore of funds from the bank account of an ST Development Corporation to multiple private accounts. Although a probe by a Karnataka Police SIT did not find links between Nagendra and the fund diversion scam, the CBI recently filed a corruption charge sheet against the Congress leader for being an alleged beneficiary of contracts worth Rs 13.95 crore given through the ST Development Corporation during his tenure as ST welfare minister. The Congress inducted Nagendra into the state cabinet again on August 3 and defied BJP demands for Nagendra’s resignation by stating that there was no evidence to link him to the alleged corruption in the award of contracts. “Various investigative agencies, including the CBI, have conducted investigations. So far, no documents have been received that directly show Nagendra to be guilty,” Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar said on August 24 in the state legislature. The resignation of Nagendra, a Scheduled Tribe Valmiki Nayak community leader from the Ballari region, is likely to allow the Congress to make changes in the state cabinet and induct two to three new ministers. Annapurna Tukaram, a first-time woman MLA who is also from the Ballari region and belongs to the ST Valmiki Nayak community, is seen as a likely replacement for Nagendra. The exit of Nagendra could also allow the entry of Siddaramaiah’s close confidante Byadgi MLA Basavaraj Shivappanavar or senior Bengaluru MLA M Krishnappa. Nagendra was inducted as a minister in the Congress cabinet for the first time in May 2023. In the last Assembly elections, he defeated heavyweight BJP leader and former minister B Sreeramulu. During 2008-13, Nagendra was the BJP MLA from Kudligi and used to operate an iron ore trading firm that came under the scanner for illegal export of iron ore. In his election affidavit in 2023, Nagendra stated that there were 26 cases related to illegal mining pending against him, including four CBI cases. He also declared Rs 17 crore in wealth in his 2023 affidavit.