Karnataka minister B Nagendra , who is facing opposition protests over allegations that he was involved in a funds misappropriation case, submitted his resignation on Friday, 25 days after he was inducted into the state cabinet.
He maintained Nagendra was innocent of the charges levelled against him. “It’s out of my own volition as I don’t want to embarrass the Congress party. I will tour the 15 Assembly constituencies reserved for the scheduled tribes in the state and explain how the Manuvadis (BJP and JDS) by repeating one lie have tried to make it the truth,’’ he said.
Shivakumar said Nagendra met him after addressing the media and handed over his resignation, but added that he would consult the party high command before taking a final decision. The four term MLA, who had been given the planning and statistics portfolio by Shivakumar, said his resignation should not be construed as buckling to pressure from the Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) or the Janata Dal (Secular-JDS), whom he referred to as “ Manuwadis”.
Opposition steps up pressure over funds case
The Ballari Rural MLA, then tribal welfare minster, had resigned and was reinducted by chief minister DK Shivakumar as a cabinet expansion on August 3. The BJP had announced a 10-day padayatra from Raichur to Ballari beginning September 1 demanding Nagendra’s resignation, which the opposition party announced will continue as there are other issues related to the 2024 case. At a press conference in Bengaluru , a tearful Nagendra said he was stepping down to spare the Congress embarrassment and not due to opposition allegations of involvement in the misappropriation of funds from a state welfare agency that came to light in 2024. Nagendra, who returned from Delhi earlier in the day, requested the Congress leadership to allow him to resign as an MLA so that he could take on his detractors and clear his name.
