Karnataka Minister Resigns Amid Allegations of Corruption

Karnataka Planning and Statistics Minister B Nagendra on Friday, August 28, announced his resignation from the state Cabinet, within 25 days of assuming office, over the alleged Valmiki Corporation scam. His announcement came shortly after he said he would meet Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and reveal his decision in a press conference. “Today, I am voluntarily tendering my resignation as the minister,” an emotional Nagendra told reporters. He said he had tendered his resignation to Shivakumar. The Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal (Secular) have been protesting his reinduction in the Cabinet, two years after he quit over the same issue. They have been alleging his involvement in the Karnataka State Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam worth Rs 89 crore. “Manuwadis (apparently referring to the BJP) targeted me as they didn’t want a tribal person in the country to grow,” Nagendra alleged. He said he was also prepared to resign as an MLA and go to the “people’s court.”