Bengaluru: The protest seeking the resignation of minister B Nagendra over alleged irregularities in the Valmiki tribal welfare corporation turned physical Friday, as BJP legislators, clad in black t-shirts, pushed past security personnel and forced their way into Vidhana Soudha.On the fifth day of their agitation, opposition legislators first gathered near the Maharshi Valmiki statue at Legislators’ Home, wearing t-shirts bearing slogans such as “this community should get justice” and “corrupt minister B Nagendra should resign.” From there, they marched towards Vidhana Soudha, only to be stopped at the entrance of the assembly by marshals, police and security officers, who cited a rule barring legislators wearing t-shirts from entering the House.However, BJP members insisted on going in. Opposition leader R Ashoka urged the group to push past the cordon, after which legislators raised “Bharat mata ki jai” slogans and broke through security.Later, Ashoka said, “Congress has stalled the entire session for the sake of one person, who looted money meant for Dalits. Is this tenable? Don’t they have other Dalit leaders? Deputy chief minister G Parameshwara claimed on the floor of the House that Nagendra has no cases against him, but there are 31 cases against him.”He added, “The Supreme Court has laid down guidelines on the eligibility of a person to be appointed as minister. There is also a CBI chargesheet. I have released all the documents, yet the govt still has doubts. Congress is taking an anti-Dalit stand. The money allegedly looted went to Rahul Gandhi’s residence and for elections. If Nagendra is removed, Congress brass fear he will reveal everything.”Meanwhile, Congress legislators staged a counter-demonstration in front of Mahatma Gandhi statue at Vidhana Soudha, accusing BJP and JD(S) of stalling both Houses of the legislature. Minister Sharanprakash Patil, Congress state president BK Hariprasad and others took part, raising slogans of “conduct the House and save the Constitution”.Replying to a question, Nagendra, who was part of the gathering, said he had been given additional charge of Kalyana Karnataka region development department, calling it a sign that he continued to enjoy the govt’s support. However, officials said the newly created department falls under the planning and statistics department which Nagendra already heads.However, business went on in the assembly. Speaker GS Pail asked minister KH Muniyappa to respond to questions raised by members, before directing deputy speaker Mankal Vaidya to table certain petitions and reports. Bills were taken up for consideration and passage and replies to calling attention notices were laid on the table, before the House was adjourned for the day.Chief minister DK Shivakumar told the legislative council he was ready to explain why B Nagendra was inducted into the cabinet and urged the opposition to move a debate notice instead of disrupting proceedings, offering to discuss it for two days. “This is the first time I’m seeing this kind of a situation,” he said. He said it was he, as KPCC president, who made Nagendra resign two years ago. Now that the investigation is complete, he questioned renewed demands for his resignation. He said several state and central ministers face cases but declined to name them. Council opposition leader Chalavadi Narayanaswamy said BJP had nothing personal against Nagendra but opposed his reinduction on moral grounds.
