Bengaluru, Aug 19: Karnataka Legislative Assembly proceedings witnessed disruptions for third day in succession on Wednesday, with the Opposition staging a protest in the House demanding the removal of minister B Nagendra, who is facing charges in connection with the alleged embezzlement of crores of rupees in a state-run corporation.
Soon after the obituary reference to senior BJP leader and former minister B C Nagesh, who died on Tuesday, opposition BJP and JD(S) raised the issue, and demanded that Nagendra be dropped from the state Cabinet immediately.
Amid opposition protest and sloganeering, deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara made a statement defending the government’s stand in continuing Nagendra in the ministry.
He also criticised the opposition’s protest on the issue.
After Parameshwara completed reading the statement amid sloganeering and chaos, Speaker G S Patil adjourned the House for lunch.
The opposition parties have already announced that they would not allow the proceedings of the monsoon session if the minister is not sacked.
Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday rejected the opposition’ demand for Nagendra’s resignation, terming their protest on the matter, disrupting the legislature proceedings, as a “drama” for political existence.
He defended the decision to re-induct Nagendra into the Cabinet, and said that the latter has no involvement in the alleged scam.
Nagendra, who resigned from the previous Siddaramaiah-led Cabinet following allegations of embezzling money at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation, was inducted into the Shivakumar-led Council of Ministers on August 3. He is presently handling the Planning and Statistics portfolio.
The ED had arrested the Ballari MLA in the Valmiki corporation scam case in July 2024, and a Special Court in Bengaluru granted him bail in October that year.
Nagendra has been named in the chargesheet by the ED and CBI in connection with the case. (PTI)
