Karnataka planning minister B Nagendra resigns amid Valmiki corporation scandal
Karnataka's planning and statistics minister B Nagendra quit on Friday, breaking down during the announcement as pressure over the Valmiki corporation fund scandal intensified.
On Friday, B Nagendra, Karnataka's minister for planning and statistics, announced his resignation, visibly emotional during the press briefing. His departure comes just weeks after his re-induction into the state cabinet on August 3, where he was assigned the planning and statistics portfolio. Nagendra said he was the target of a conspiracy and asserted that the BJP could not scare him with agencies like the ED or CBI, also accusing “Manuwadis” of opposing a tribal leader’s rise.
The resignation is the second cabinet exit for Nagendra, who previously stepped down as tribal welfare minister in June 2024 when the alleged Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scandal surfaced. The controversy originated in May 2024 when P Chandrasekharan, an accounts superintendent of the corporation, died by suicide, leaving a note that alleged unauthorized fund transfers, later traced to Rs 89.63 crore moving through a Union Bank of India account.
Opposition parties have staged repeated protests in the Karnataka legislature, and the BJP and JD(S) plan a foot march from Raichur to Ballari in early September demanding his removal. Nagendra said he would meet chief minister D K Shivakumar to discuss the matter further.
Why it matters
The resignation highlights escalating political turmoil in Karnataka over alleged misuse of public funds.
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