Valmiki scam : Nagendra quits K'taka Cabinet 25 days after reinduction

For the second time in two years, Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigned from the state Cabinet on Friday amid the opposition heat over his alleged involvement in the Rs 89 crore Valmiki Corporation scam.

His move came hours after Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, who re-induced the Ballary rural MLA in a cabinet expansion on August 3, said that he had left the decision on the matter with his junio colleague.

Shortly after his arrival from Delhi, Nagendra announced his resignation as Planning and Statistics Minister, 25 days after being re-inducted.

Opposition BJP, which along with ally JD(S), has been demanding for his sacking eversince he made his way back into the Cabinet, described his stepping down as a "victory," and the loss of first wicket for Shivakumar government.

"Today I am voluntarily tendering my resignation as minister," an emotional Nagendra who broke down and wiped his tears, told reporters here. He said he has submitted his resignation to the CM.

Speaking in a choked voice, Nagendra compared the BJP's targeting of him to Lord Rama's killing of Shambuka in Ramayana and alleged that the "manuwadis", apparently referring to the saffron party, never wanted a tribal person to rise.

Shambuka is an ascetic in the Uttara Kanda of the Valmiki Ramayana who, according to the text, was killed by Rama for performing penance.

Nagendra said he did not want to embarrass his party or allow the conspiracies of "manuwadis and vile communal forces" to gain an upper hand in state politics.

He claimed that his name had been included in the second charge sheet filed by the central agencies "in a hurry".

"I have no role in the Valmiki Corporation scam. Did I sign anywhere, give any direction or write any note sheet?" he said.

He questioned why Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had not resigned when nationalised Union Bank of India was allegedly involved in the transfer of funds in the scam.

Also, he said he was prepared to resign as an MLA and go to the "people's court".

He was stepping down voluntarily to prevent embarrassment to the Congress party and to ensure that CM Shivakumar's development agenda was not affected.

The Opposition BJP and the JD(S) have been protesting his reinduction in the cabinet, two years after he quit over the cotroversy. They have been alleging his involvement in the Karnataka State Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam worth Rs 89 crore.

The Ballari rural MLA, who had resigned in 2024 and later arrested by the Enforcement Directorate before securing bail, alleged that the BJP-led Opposition was using the case to target him because he was an Adivasi leader.

He accused the Opposition of preventing the legislature from discussing issues including drought, the Cauvery dispute and what he described as the KPSC scam involving more than Rs 7,000 crore. He also criticised the BJP's ongoing padayatra over the Valmiki Corporation issue, calling it an "issueless issue".

"This is really an attempt to tell our people, particularly the innocent people of North Karnataka, that there has been a scam when there has been no such issue. You have started planting a lie in the minds of our innocent people," he charged

Nagendra alleged that the BJP was trying to revive "Manusmriti" practices and prevent Dalits, Adivasis, women and minorities from advancing.

"In the Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana, Shambuka was killed. But in this era, I believe we have the Constitution and the Goddess of Justice to protect people so that a Shambuka is not killed," he said.

He also alleged that the CBI and ED were being used against him after state agencies had conducted investigations. Claiming that his name was not included in the first CBI charge sheet, he alleged that it was "hurriedly" added to the second charge sheet after he became a minister.

Questioning the demand for his resignation, Nagendra said, "what mistake have I committed, sir? Is my only crime being a minister in a Congress government? Where is the proof."

He claimed that the entire scam money had already been recovered.

He was prepared to give up his Assembly membership as well and challenged BJP leaders to face him before the "people's court".

Nagendra also thanked Shivakumar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah, K C Venugopal, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Priyank Kharge and several other party leaders for extending support to him.

He said his decision to resign was taken voluntarily despite repeated assurances from the Congress leadership that he was not guilty.

"Only because I did not want my party to suffer embarrassment because of me, I am voluntarily submitting my resignation to my chief minister today," he said.

Nagendra said he would travel across Karnataka, including the 15 Assembly constituencies reserved for Scheduled Tribes, to highlight what he described as the injustice done to him.

The opposition BJP and JD(S) staged repeated protests inside and outside the legislature during the recent monsoon session, which was curtailed by three days and adjourned sine die on August 24 amid the continued uproar.

The two parties have also planned for a foot march from Raichur to Ballari demanding Nagendra's resignation from September 1 to 10.

Karnataka BJP leaders termed Nagendra's resignation as a "victory" for their sustained agitation over the alleged Valmiki Corporation scam, while asserting that their fight would continue to establish accountability for the entire episode.

Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly R Ashoka told reporters in Delhi that the resignation marked the first setback for the Shivakumar-led Congress government, which, he said, had not completed three months.

"Our struggle, and the struggle of our workers resulted in this government losing its first wicket in the form of Nagendra's resignation," Ashoka said.

Karnataka BJP president B Y Vijayendra said Nagendra was only a small player in the alleged scam and demanded that the money be recovered and the larger conspiracy exposed.

"Nagendra is only a small fry. There are big sharks involved in this scam," he told reporters in Bengaluru.

In May 2024, P Chandrasekharan, then an accounts superintendent with the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation, died by suicide and left a six-page note alleging irregularities and unauthorised transfers of corporation funds. Subsequent investigations found that Rs 89.63 crore had been transferred from a corporation account to a Union Bank of India account and subsequently moved to multiple other accounts, triggering a major political controversy.

Nagendra, who held the Tribal Welfare portfolio in the then Siddaramaiah cabinet when the controversy surfaced, resigned in June 2024.

He was re-inducted on August 3, 2026 with the Planning and Statistics portfolio, prompting the Opposition to revive its demand for his removal. His second stint could last only 25 days.

Amid calls for his removal from the Cabinet, Shivakumar had said that Nagendra was a "disciplined soldier of the party", indicating that he would toe the party line on the matter.