Karnataka Assembly stalled over demand to sack minister Nagendra
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly proceedings witnessed disruption on Monday, with the Opposition staging a protest demanding the removal of Minister B Nagendra, who is facing charges in connection with the alleged embezzlement of crores of rupees at a State-run corporation, from the Cabinet.
As soon as the Speaker G S Patil called for question hour, the Opposition BJP and JD(S) raised the issue.
Leader of Opposition R Ashoka and BJP MLA Sunil Kumar raised the issue and questioned how they can participate in question hour with a “corrupt minister” here.
Demanding that Nagendra should be removed, Ashoka declared that, “We will not let the house function until he is dropped. The CM should remove him from the Cabinet immediately.”
The BJP has already announced that it would not allow the proceedings of the Monsoon Session if he is not sacked.
Nagendra is now the Minister for Planning and Statistics.
Nagendra, who resigned from the previous Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet following the allegations of embezzlement of taxpayer money at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, was inducted into the D K Shivakumar-led Ministry on August 3.
“When Siddaramaiah was CM, he had taken Nagendra’s resignation; why has he been taken into the Cabinet now?” Ashoka asked.
ED arrested Nagendra in the Valmiki Corporation scam case in July 2024, and a Special Court in Bengaluru in October that year, granted bail to the MLA from Ballari.
Nagendra has been named in the chargesheet by the ED and CBI in connection with the case.
As the BJP held a protest and continued sloganeering despite his repeated request to allow question hour, the Speaker adjourned the house for some time.
