Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigned from the Cabinet and MLA post amid Valmiki Corporation fund irregularity allegations.
Nagendra said he stepped down voluntarily to avoid “embarrassment” to the Congress party.
BJP and JD(S) had repeatedly demanded his resignation and staged protests during the monsoon session.
Karnataka minister B Nagendra on Friday resigned from the state Cabinet as well as his MLA post, amid allegations linking him to financial irregularities at the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.
Nagendra announced the decision at a press conference, where he teared up while explaining his reasons for stepping down. He said he had chosen to resign voluntarily to prevent the controversy from causing further "embarrassment" to the Congress government.
“I am resigning of my own will to avoid the embarrassment that may cost my party because of unnecessary allegations made by the opposition party against me,” he said. Nagendra also accused the BJP of pursuing “manuvadi” politics and described himself as a victim of it.
His resignation follows sustained pressure from the BJP and JD(S), which had repeatedly sought his removal after his re-induction into the Cabinet on August 3. The opposition parties have alleged that Nagendra was connected to the alleged diversion of funds from the state-run corporation.
The issue also dominated the recent Karnataka legislature's monsoon session. BJP and JD(S) members staged protests inside and outside the legislature, with the session eventually ending three days ahead of schedule on August 24 amid the continuing disruption.
The opposition has also announced a foot march from Raichur to Ballari from September 1 to 10, with Nagendra's resignation among its key demands.
The controversy surrounding the corporation emerged in May 2024 after P Chandrasekharan, then an accounts superintendent with the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, died by suicide. In a six-page note, Chandrasekharan alleged financial irregularities and unauthorised movement of funds within the corporation.
Investigations that followed found that ₹89.63 crore had been transferred from an account belonging to the corporation to a Union Bank of India account. The money was subsequently moved through several other accounts, bringing the alleged financial irregularities under intense political scrutiny.
