Opposition disrupts Assembly seeking Minister B. Nagendra’s dismissal over alleged scam in Valmiki corporation

Proceedings in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly were disrupted on August 17 as the opposition BJP and JD(S) demanded the dismissal of Minister B. Nagendra from the Cabinet over his alleged involvement in the multi-crore rupee embezzlement case in the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation.

As soon as Speaker G.S. Patil urged Question Hour, Leader of Opposition R. Ashok and BJP member V. Sunil Kumar raised the issue and demanded that Mr. Nagendra be dropped from the Cabinet.

“How can we participate in Question Hour when a corrupt Minister is sitting here,” Mr. Ashok asked.

Declaring that the opposition would not allow the House to function until Mr. Nagendra was removed, Mr. Ashok said, “The Chief Minister should immediately remove him from the Cabinet.” The BJP has already unveiled that it would disrupt the monsoon session unless Mr. Nagendra is dismissed.

Mr. Nagendra currently holds the Planning and Statistics portfolio. He had resigned from the previous Siddaramaiah Cabinet in June 2024 following allegations of large-scale misappropriation of funds in the Valmiki Corporation. He was, however, inducted into the D.K. Shivakumar-led Cabinet on August 3.

“When Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister, he had accepted Nagendra’s resignation. Why has he been inducted into the Cabinet now,” Mr. Ashok asked.

Bengaluru Development Minister Krishna Byre Gowda alleged that the opposition was wasting the time of the House by raising the demand without giving prior notice to the Speaker. He alleged that BJP members had raised the issue to hush up internal differences in their own party.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had arrested Mr. Nagendra in connection with the Valmiki Corporation case in July 2024. A special court in Bengaluru granted him bail in October that year. The ED and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) have subsequently named Mr. Nagendra in their respective chargesheets in the case.

The BJP members staged a protest in the House and continued raising slogans despite repeated appeals by the Speaker to allow Question Hour to proceed. With the Opposition refusing to relent, Mr. Patil adjourned the House at 1 p.m.