Bengaluru, Aug 18 (IANS) The BJP and JD(S) on Tuesday stepped up their demand for the removal of Karnataka Minister B. Nagendra from the Cabinet in connection with the alleged tribal welfare case, announcing that they would continue their agitation until he is sacked.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka, speaking at Vidhana Soudha, accused the state government of being “corrupt” and said the Opposition parties would continue their struggle against the government.
“The Karnataka government is a corrupt government. Until this corrupt government is shunted out, our struggle will continue. We will continue our agitation until Minister Nagendra is sacked and Rs 184 crore is brought back to the state treasury,” Ashoka claimed.
Ashoka questioned the state government’s decision to induct Nagendra into the Cabinet despite allegations against him and investigations by central agencies.
“What was the necessity for the Congress party to take Minister Nagendra into the Cabinet? He is facing cases before the ED and CBI, and his name is mentioned in the chargesheet,” Ashoka alleged.
JD(S) MLA H.D. Revanna, son of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, said the BJP and JD(S) had decided to jointly oppose the government and would finalise the details of their agitation after holding further discussions.
“We have discussed holding a united agitation. We agree with what the BJP leaders have stated about the protest. We will hold a meeting and decide how to oppose the government unitedly,” Revanna said.
BJP state president and MLA B.Y. Vijayendra said the ongoing Assembly session should focus on major issues confronting the state, including drought, alleged irregularities in the KPSC and other matters.
He urged Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to drop Nagendra from the Cabinet without waiting for another debate in the House.
“If the state government and the Chief Minister have any concern about these issues, they should allow them to be discussed in the House without wasting time. Minister Nagendra should be dropped from the Cabinet immediately,” Vijayendra said.
Vijayendra also questioned the Chief Minister’s stand that the matter should first be debated in the House before a decision is taken.
“When Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister, after discussions and debates, Nagendra was dropped from the Cabinet. In this backdrop, there is nothing left to discuss,” he said.
Vijayendra asked Shivakumar to “come out of his obstinacy” and remove Nagendra from the Cabinet, while also demanding discussions in the Assembly on the KPSC issue, NICE Township and the Bidadi project.
The Opposition parties have maintained that they will continue their joint agitation until their demands are addressed.
It can be noted that the Karnataka tribal welfare scam involves the illegal siphoning of roughly Rs 89 to Rs 94 crore from the state-run Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes development Corporation Limited. The funds, meant for the upliftment of Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities, were illegally diverted into fake accounts and shell entities.
The scam broke in May 2024 after an accounts superintendent of the corporation died by suicide, leaving behind a note detailing unauthorised and illegal fund transfers. Following the uproar and the revelation of illegal money routing to accounts in neighboring states, Karnataka’s then Tribal Welfare Minister, B. Nagendra, resigned from his post.
Investigations revealed that Rs 187 crore total had been deposited into a newly opened bank account, out of which nearly Rs 89–94 crore was systematically siphoned off through intermediaries and used for unauthorized purposes.
The ED probed the money laundering angle, carried out multiple raids on politicians and associates, and named former Minister B. Nagendra as the prime accused/mastermind in its prosecution complaint.
–IANS
mka/rad
