U.T. Khader, Minister for Health and Family Welfare, addressing a press conference at Circuit House in Mangaluru on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Merely because the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating the alleged misappropriation of funds related to the Valmiki Development Corporation, B. Nagendra cannot be denied a berth in the cabinet of D.K. Shivakumar, said Health and Family Welfare Minister U.T. Khader in Mangaluru on Saturday.Talking to reporters, Mr. Khader said that soon after the allegation, Mr. Nagendra tendered his resignation from the post. In a two-year period, a Special Investigation Team investigated the case and found Mr. Nagendra innocent. More than 90% of the misappropriated money has been returned to the Corporation. Just a few days before the swearing-in of Mr. Nagendra and other legislators to the Cabinet, the CBI sent a letter seeking prosecution sanction against Mr. Nagendra by annexing three charge sheets that showed the role of the Minister in the alleged misappropriation.“Merely because the CBI is investigating the case, Nagendra cannot be left out. When the BJP has made many of those facing criminal charges Chief Ministers and Ministers in other States, why is it insisting on dropping Mr. Nagendra?” Instead of giving notices to the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council and discussing the matter on the floor of the House, the BJP has disrupted proceedings of the two Houses for the last 10 days, he said.“The BJP is not interested in the issue of Mr. Nagendra. They just want to disrupt the House proceedings in the way the Congress and other parties did in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha for the re-NEET issue. By disrupting the legislature proceedings, the BJP is doing a disservice to the people,” Mr. Khader said.In a press note issued on June 2, 2026, the CBI said that through three charge sheets, it has unearthed a meticulously planned conspiracy involving the then Minister of the ST Welfare Department, Mr. Nagendra, his close associate Nekkanti Nagaraj, and Valmiki Corporation Managing Director Padmanabha J.G. Satyanarayana Varma of Hyderabad played a crucial role in executing the fraud. Mr. Nagendra was the beneficiary of a benami vehicle purchased using the diverted funds of the Valmiki Corporation, and the fraud amount was received by his close associate Mr. Nagaraj and his relatives.The investigation has established that Mr. Nagendra received illegal gratification of ₹1.20 crore through Mr. Nagaraj, which was routed into the accounts of Mr. Nagendra’s sister, brother-in-law, personal assistant, and a farmhouse owner in Ballari. At the instance of Minister Mr. Nagendra, skill development training work worth ₹4.90 crore was awarded by the SC/ST Nomadic Tribes Development Corporation to KGTTI, Bengaluru, and sub-contracted without any tender process to Skillpoint Training & Services, Guntur, the CBI stated. Published - August 22, 2026 06:47 pm IST
