Karnataka’s ‘clean’ Cabinet adds a bail order
BJP-JD(S) marched in Bengaluru to oust B. Nagendra. The Congress government in Karnataka re-inducted him on August 3 — while ED/CBI cases continue and courts are still setting his travel terms.
B. Nagendra was re-inducted into the Karnataka Cabinet while the Valmiki Corporation case remains under investigation.
The Karnataka BJP and JD(S) tried marching to Vidhana Soudha on August 24 demanding the removal of Congress minister B. Nagendra; police blocked the protest and detained BJP state chief B.Y. Vijayendra, R. Ashoka and others. According to the protest coverage, their charge centres on the Valmiki Corporation case and Nagendra’s return to Cabinet three weeks ago.
Here is the record the Congress government in Karnataka is steering past. The Enforcement Directorate arrested Nagendra on July 12, 2024 in a probe into alleged misappropriation of Rs 89.62 crore from the Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, saying about Rs 90 crore was routed to fake accounts across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The ED says the layering involved shell accounts, cash and bullion; the investigation is ongoing.
Courts have since granted Nagendra bail, and this month the Karnataka High Court relaxed conditions to let him travel within India without prior permission, while keeping foreign-travel clearance in place — a reminder that the case is alive, not over. Nevertheless, on August 3, 19 MLAs were sworn in and Nagendra got back in, listed with Planning and Statistics.
Nagendra says he did nothing wrong and that most of the siphoned money was recovered; he calls himself an accused, not a convict. The BJP, meanwhile, is now branding the case at Rs 187 crore — a political figure that outruns the ED’s own Rs 89.62 crore statement and needs a document, not a slogan.
Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar’s defence of the pick was blunt: his party made him CM despite cases; the Cabinet was a collective call. That is a sentiment, not a clearance. The Congress government in Karnataka still hasn’t bothered to explain why a minister under active ED/CBI scrutiny had to be re-inducted before the facts land.