Karnataka Minister B Nagendra has offered to resign as the state Cabinet member because of continued political pressure from the BJP over the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation case.
According to reports, Nagendra has spoken to Chief Minister D K Shivakumar about his decision to step down. Shivakumar has asked Nagendra not to resign until he consults the Congress high command.
The development follows weeks of pitched rhetoric between the ruling Congress and BJP, and the Opposition has repeatedly petitioned the government to remove Nagendra from the Cabinet. The Valmiki Corporation case has been at the centre of Karnataka legislature’s recent debate, and the opposition has been demanding that the minister be removed as president.
Nagendra's latest reported decision is a change from his previous position. Just days ago, he had publicly queried why he should resign and maintained that he was innocent. He had also accused the Opposition of targeting him because he belongs to the Dalit and Adivasi communities.
Nagendra has told the Chief Minister that he does not want to embarrass the Congress party despite the Special Investigation Team giving him a clean chit. Congress leaders have also defended him, pointing to the SIT investigation and the recovery of a substantial portion of the money involved in the alleged financial irregularities.
A political issue arises from alleged irregularities in Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation. The incident became public in 2024 when the corporation accounts superintendent P Chandrasekharan died by suicide. He left behind a note claiming unauthorised transfers of funds. The corporation accounts superintendent’s death was followed by an investigation of huge sums being transferred from his account to the corporation’s account.
Nagendra, a minister in charge of the department at the time, resigned from the Siddaramaiah Cabinet in June 2024 in light of the controversy. He was brought back into the Karnataka Cabinet under the leadership of Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on August 3, 2026, and soon there was fresh criticism from the BJP.
The BJP has continued to demand Nagendra's removal, citing the allegations and the investigation proceedings as reasons his removal from the cabinet is untenable. The Opposition campaign, which has disrupted the Monsoon Session, led to the session ending three days earlier than the scheduled date.
The issue has also gained a lot of social and political dimension. Nagendra has repeatedly claimed that the BJP is uncomfortable with the representation of Dalit and tribal leaders in the Congress government. He also claims Opposition leaders are trying to remove him from office for political and caste-based reasons.
Nagendra said in one of his recent remarks that he had been given ministerial responsibility because of the confidence placed in him and maintained that he was not guilty. He also said he was prepared to go through the legal process and talk about the allegations in the Assembly.
The Congress government has also resisted the BJP’s demand for immediate resignation. Shivakumar had earlier argued that the Opposition should follow legislative procedure and give notice for a discussion instead of disrupting proceedings. He also said that the government had not received documents directly establishing Nagendra’s guilt.
The latest resignation offer would therefore help the Congress leadership to ease the political tension and allow the party hierarchy to decide Nagendra's immediate future. Shivakumar's decision also has political significance because Nagendra was among the ministers who were recalled into his Cabinet earlier this month.
The Chief Minister’s reported decision to consult the Congress high command suggests that the issue now may go beyond Karnataka’s state leadership and become a matter of senior party leaders. The timing is particularly important after the BJP intensified protests demanding Nagendra’s resignation.
Nagendra is still a minister even if the offer to resign is pending further discussions. But whether the Congress gives him a call for resignation, asks him to continue or finds another political arrangement is likely to be clearer after Shivakumar has discussed it with the party leadership next week.
The episode is expected to remain a major political issue in Karnataka, especially as the Congress and BJP are at loggerheads over the Valmiki Corporation allegations, investigative findings and the representation of Dalit and tribal leaders in the state government.
