There is a demand that Minister B Nagendra should resign in connection with the case, he said, 'I demand that he quit voluntarily...'
File photo of BS Yediyurappa. (Supllied)
Veteran BJP leader BS Yediyurappa on Wednesday, 29 May, demanded the resignation of Scheduled Tribes Welfare Minister B Nagendra, following allegations of embezzlement of crores of rupees from a state-run corporation in his department, and a suicide death of an official linking him to it.
“It is unfortunate that an officer has died by suicide. It should not have happened. I demand that action should be taken against those he has named (in the suicide note),” Yediyurappa told reporters in Bengaluru.
There is a demand that Minister B Nagendra should resign in connection with the case, he said, “I demand that he quit voluntarily…”
A 48-year-old government official employed by Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation Ltd (KMVSATDC) died by suicide, alleging in his suicide note that some officials pressured him to transfer crores of money to an unofficial account.
“I am not a coward but cannot bear humiliation, I could not think of any other way,” was the last sentence penned by KMVSATDC’s late superintendent P Chandrashekar on 26 May.
In the six-page suicide note accessed by South First, he has levelled corruption allegations to the tune of ₹85 crore against the KMVSTDC’s Managing Director, Accountant and Union Bank of India’s MG Road branch manager.
Based on the death note, an FIR was registered against the three accused at Vinobanagara Police Station in Shivamogga on 27 May.
Two days after the suicide of the government official, the Congress government, on 28 May, transferred the case to the Central Investigation Department (CID).
Meanwhile, KMVSTDC’s Managing Director JG Padmanabha has alleged that his signature was forged to transfer the money from the official account to another bank account illegally and that he was unaware of the said transactions.
Meanwhile, in a post on X, the BJP in Karnataka questioned Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over the suicide and demanded the resignation of Nagendra.
ಭ್ರಷ್ಟಾಚಾರ ನಡೆದಿರುವುದು ಸಾಬೀತಾಗಿದೆ, ಸ್ವತಃ ಸಚಿವ ನಾಗೇಂದ್ರ ಒಪ್ಪಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾಗಿದೆ. ಸಿಎಂ @siddaramaiah ಅವರೇ ನೀವು ಮೌನಕ್ಕೆ ಶರಣಾಗಿದ್ಯಾಕೆ? ದಲಿತರ ಹಣ ದೋಚಿದ ಸಚಿವರ ತಲೆ ಕಾಯುತ್ತಿರುವುದ್ಯಾಕೆ? ರಾಜೀನಾಮೆ ಯಾವಾಗ ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತೀರಿ?
ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಆಗ್ರಹಿಸುತ್ತಿದೆ.#ResignNagendra#CorruptCongress pic.twitter.com/36EKyERLo8
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) May 29, 2024
The former chief minister also expressed confidence about the party winning maximum number of seats in the Lok Sabha and upcoming MLC polls.
“In the Lok Sabha polls, we will hundred percent win 20-22 seats (out of 28)….as the atmosphere is in favour of our party. We are making efforts to win the maximum number of seats in the legislative council polls, and I’m confident that we will be successful in that,” he said.
Asked about former MLA K Raghupati Bhat contesting the council polls as a rebel from the South West Graduates constituency, the former chief minister said, “I don’t want to speak anything about him. We had given him all the due positions and responsibilities. Despite that, he is adamant and is contesting. I’m confident that people will make appropriate decisions.”
The BJP had on Saturday expelled Bhat from the party for six years after he refused to withdraw his candidature as an independent candidate for the MLC polls from the South West Graduates constituency.
Biennial elections to six seats (three each from graduates’ and teachers’ constituencies) of the Karnataka Legislative Council will be held on 3 June.
(With PTI inputs)
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