B. Nagendra is an Indian politician & former Minister of Sports & Youth services. He has been elected four times as a member of the

Karnataka Legislative Assembly The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...

from the Bellary & Kudligi constituency. He started his career in

Bhartiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Since 2014, ...

& later shifted to

Indian national congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

prior to 2018 Karnataka elections in

Hospet Hospet (officially Hosapete) is the largest and fastest-growing industrial city and district headquarters of the Vijayanagara district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Hospet is known as "the steel city of Karnataka". It is located on the bank ...

Education

He is a B.com. graduate from Veerashaiva College, Bellary, Gulbarga University in the year 1993.

Career

He represents Bellary Rural constituency from

Ballari district Ballari, formerly Bellary (pronounced ), is a major district in Karnataka. It is located at north-eastern part of Karnataka. This district belongs to Kalyana-Karnataka. This district was one of the biggest districts in Karnataka until the Vi ...

as a member of

as an INC candidate. He was elected as

Member of Legislative Assembly A Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected to sit in a legislative assembly. The term most commonly refers to members of the legislature of a federated state or an autonomous region, but is also used for several national ...

from Kudligi from 2008 to 2018 as BJP and Independent candidate respectively. He was a former close aide of Mining Baron Gali Janardhan Reddy. He was involved in illegal transportation of

Iron Ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

from

Bellary Ballari (formerly Bellary) is a city in the Ballari district in state of Karnataka, India. Ballari houses many steel plants such as JSW Vijayanagar, one of the largest in Asia. Ballari district is also known as the ‘Steel city of South Ind ...

mining area. He was also involved in 2024 Valmiki department funds scam & was sent to Bengaluru Jail. He defeated BJP leader and former Transport minister of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

B Sriramulu by 29,500 votes in 2023 legislative assembly election representing Bellary Rural.

Electoral statistics

Controversies

Valmiki Development Corporation fund misappropriation (2024)

In May 2024, B. Nagendra, then Karnataka's Minister for Scheduled Tribes Welfare and chairman of the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation Limited, was implicated in a financial scandal involving the alleged misappropriation of approximately ₹187 crore from the corporation's funds. The issue came to light following the suicide of accounts superintendent P. Chandrasekharan, who reportedly left a note alleging unauthorized fund transfers to private entities. Nagendra resigned from his ministerial position in June 2024 amid mounting political pressure. On 12 July 2024, the

Enforcement Directorate The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is a law enforcement and economic intelligence agency of the Government of India. Established on 1 May 1956, it is responsible for enforcing economic laws and combating financial crimes. The ED operates under th ...

(ED) arrested him under the provisions of the PMLA in connection with the case. The ED's investigation revealed that ₹187 crore had been transferred from the corporation's account without proper authorization, and a portion of these funds was allegedly used for personal expenses and to support a candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. A special court granted Nagendra bail in October 2024, directing him to cooperate with the ongoing investigation. Following his release, Nagendra alleged that the ED had pressured him to implicate Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D. K. Shivakumar in the case, claims which the ED has not publicly addressed.

References

External links

Karnataka Legislative Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagendra B. 1971 births Living people Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka Karnataka MLAs 2008–2013 Karnataka MLAs 2013–2018 Karnataka MLAs 2018–2023 Karnataka MLAs 2023–2028