Bengaluru: Newly inducted minister B Nagendra, whose return to the cabinet has triggered sharp criticism from BJP and discontent among some Congress MLAs who were denied ministerial berths, received a double reprieve on Monday, with chief minister DK Shivakumar strongly defending his re-induction and the high court relaxing a key bail condition imposed on him in the Maharshi Valmiki Development Corporation case.The high court stayed the condition requiring Nagendra to seek the court’s permission before travelling outside Karnataka. It modified the condition to allow him to travel within the country, while retaining the requirement to obtain court permission before leaving India. The court gave the Enforcement Directorate (ED) time till Wednesday to file objections. Nagendra had approached the high court after the special court for elected representatives rejected his plea to travel to Delhi.The legal relief comes as BJP and JD(S) prepare to jointly pile pressure on Shivakumar to drop Nagendra from his council of ministers over allegations linked to the transfer of Rs 187 crore from the corporation. Nagendra had resigned as Scheduled Tribe welfare minister from the Siddaramaiah cabinet in 2024 after the alleged irregularities came to light and is currently out on bail.Defending his re-induction on Sunday, Shivakumar said being an accused and being out on bail did not automatically disqualify a person from being a minister.“I am also on bail. Didn’t HD Kumaraswamy obtain bail? There are many ministers in the country who are on bail,” Shivakumar said, adding that it was the right of the opposition to raise the issue.However, opposition leader R Ashoka renewed BJP’s attack Monday, calling Nagendra “tainted” and alleging that he had travelled to New Delhi in violation of a court order.Ashoka said investigations by agencies including CBI and ED were still underway and questioned the decision to bring Nagendra back into the cabinet. “If a tainted MLA is re-inducted into cabinet, then, the entire cabinet will be tainted,” Ashoka said.State BJP president BY Vijayendra alleged Nagendra had “blackmailed” the CM and Congress high command, claiming party brass was also aware of the alleged threats. “We have information that Nagendra even blackmailed the Congress high command. The issue of threats being made is also being discussed within Congress circles,” Vijayendra alleged adding that his induction into the cabinet amounted to an “injustice” to the Scheduled Tribe community.
