A teary-eyed Karnataka minister B Nagendra resigned on Friday amid opposition protests over corruption allegations linked to the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam.The BJP had relentlessly targeted Nagendra over alleged irregularities involving Rs 89 crore in the state-run corporation. The controversy surfaced after Chandrasekharan P, the corporation’s accounts officer, died by suicide in May 2024, leaving behind a note alleging the unauthorised transfer of funds.Subsequent investigations found that large sums had been transferred from the corporation’s bank accounts to multiple other accounts. Chief Minister DK Shivakumar had defended Nagendra, saying, “He is innocent. I have checked all the reports. The BJP is treating him like a criminal.”Addressing a press conference on Friday, Nagendra said he had decided to “voluntarily step down” to avoid causing embarrassment to the Congress.“I am resigning of my own will to avoid the embarrassment that may be caused to my party because of unnecessary allegations made by the opposition against me,” he said, while alleging that he had become a victim of the BJP’s “Manuvadi” politics.“I believe in the Constitution. We repeatedly asked the BJP to come and discuss the allegations against me in the Assembly, but they did not. Where is the proof?” he said.A prominent Scheduled Tribes leader, Nagendra had served as Tribal Welfare Minister in Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet before the Congress leadership chose Shivakumar as Chief Minister. He had resigned in June 2024 following the Valmiki Corporation controversy. After Shivakumar took charge as CM, Nagendra was re-inducted into the Cabinet on August 3 and assigned the Planning and Statistics portfolio.Nagendra alleged that the BJP wanted to “impose the Manusmriti” and had an “anti-tribal mindset”, claiming he was being targeted because of his social background. “They are attacking me because I am a Dalit,” he said before breaking down and reiterating that he was resigning of his own free will.Nagendra was elected on a BJP ticket from Kudligi in 2008 and as an Independent in 2013. He joined the Congress in 2018 and has since won two consecutive elections from the Ballari (ST-reserved) constituency.The BJP and JD(S) had been demanding his resignation ever since his re-induction into the Cabinet on August 3, alleging his links to the purported diversion of funds from the corporation.