Members of the district unit of the BJP staging a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kalaburagi on Monday.
| Photo Credit: ARUN KULKARNI
Members of the Kalaburagi district unit of the BJP staged a protest here on Monday demanding the immediate removal of B. Nagendra from the State Cabinet, questioning his re-induction while the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation funds misappropriation case is under investigation.
BJP workers took out a march from Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Chowk to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, raising slogans against the Congress government. They later burnt tyres in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office to register their protest.
Addressing the protesters, the former MP Umesh Jadhav, the former legislators Dattatreya Patil Revoor and Amarnath Patil said that Mr. Nagendra resigned as Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare in June 2024 following the misappropriation case. He was also arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a related money-laundering case before being released on bail.
The BJP leaders said that Mr. Nagendra is named as an accused in the diversion of ₹89.63 crore through forged cheques and RTGS transactions. They questioned the rationale behind his re-induction and said that the Congress government is setting a “wrong precedent” by allowing a person facing serious allegations to return to the Cabinet while the case is pending.
They demanded that the investigation be allowed to proceed without political interference and warned of intensifying the agitation if Mr Nagendra is not immediately removed from the Cabinet.
BJP Rural district president Ashok Bagali and city unit president Chandu Patil participated in the protest.
Published – August 17, 2026 06:52 pm IST
