Karnataka Minister B Nagendra Resigns Amid Valmiki Corporation Scam Allegations

Karnataka Planning and Statistics Minister B Nagendra on Friday resigned from the Cabinet amid mounting pressure from the BJP opposition over the alleged Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam.

Nagendra, who represents Ballari Rural, said he was stepping down to prevent embarrassment to the Congress leadership, while maintaining that he was innocent. He also said he was willing to resign his assembly seat to prove his innocence.

The BJP claimed the resignation as a victory and said it would continue its campaign against the Congress government until the 2028 assembly elections.

Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had inducted Nagendra into the Cabinet on August 3 after a state Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe gave him a clean chit in the case involving alleged diversion of funds from the Valmiki corporation to private bank accounts.

The BJP had disrupted assembly proceedings and staged an overnight protest demanding Nagendra’s removal.

Nagendra had earlier resigned as Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister in 2024 after allegations emerged of financial irregularities in the corporation, which implements welfare programmes for Scheduled Tribe communities. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) subsequently arrested him in July 2024 in connection with its money-laundering investigation.

The case centres on the alleged illegal transfer of Rs 89.63 crore from the corporation’s account with Union Bank of India to accounts of unidentified recipients in Hyderabad between February 21 and May 6, 2024. The bank told the CBI that it had recovered about Rs 5 crore, leaving Rs 84.63 crore unrecovered.

The issue has remained politically contentious, with Opposition leader R Ashoka alleging in the assembly that Congress leaders benefited from the alleged scam and accusing the government of shielding Nagendra.

In May 2024, P Chandrashekar, an accounts superintendent with the corporation, died by suicide, leaving a note alleging that senior officials had pressured him to facilitate parallel bank accounts for diversion of funds.