B. Nagendra

B. Nagendra^[1] is an Indian politician & former Minister of Sports & Youth services. He has been elected four times as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from the Bellary & Kudligi constituency. He started his career in Bhartiya Janata Party & later shifted to Indian national congress prior to 2018 Karnataka elections in Hospet.

B. Nagendra
Minister of Youth services & Sports Government of Karnataka
In office 27 May 2023 – 31 May 2024
Governor	Thawarchand Gehlot
Cabinet	Second Siddaramaiah ministry
Chief Minister	Siddaramaiah
Ministry and Departments	Youth Services Sports ST Welfare
Preceded by	Narayana Gowda, B Sriramulu
Succeeded by	TBA
Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 2018
Preceded by	NY Gopalkrishna
Constituency	Bellary Rural
In office 2008–2018
Preceded by	Anil Lad
Succeeded by	NY Gopalkrishna
Constituency	Kudligi
Personal details
Born	(1971-09-15) 15 September 1971 (age 53) Bellary
Nationality	Indian
Political party	Indian national congress (2018 - present)
Other political affiliations	Bhartiya Janata Party (2008-2018)
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Mine Owner

Education

He is a B.com. graduate from Veerashaiva College, Bellary, Gulbarga University in the year 1993.^[2]

Career

He represents Bellary Rural constituency from Ballari district as a member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly as an INC candidate.^[3] He was elected as Member of Legislative Assembly 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 from Bellary mining area. He was also involved in 2024 Valmiki department funds scam & was sent to Bengaluru Jail.^[4] He defeated BJP leader and former Transport minister of Karnataka B Sriramulu by 29,500 votes in 2023 legislative assembly election representing Bellary Rural.

Electoral statistics

Year	Constituency	Party	Result	Votes	Opposition Party	Opposition votes
2008	Kudligi	BJP	Won	54,443	INC	45,686
2013	Kudligi	IND	Won	71,477	INC	46,674
2018	Bellary Rural	INC	Won	79,186	BJP	76,507
2023	Bellary Rural	INC	Won	103,836	BJP	74,536

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.^[5]

Nagendra resigned from his ministerial position in June 2024 amid mounting political pressure. On 12 July 2024, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested him under the provisions of the PMLA in connection with the case.^[6] 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.^[7]

A special court granted Nagendra bail in October 2024, directing him to cooperate with the ongoing investigation.^[8] 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.^[9]