Mumbai: The Maharashtra Government has moved Manikrao Kokate from the Agriculture Ministry to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Welfare following outrage over a viral video that allegedly showed him playing online rummy during a Legislative Assembly session. Dattatray Bharne will now take over as the new Agriculture Minister.
The controversy erupted after NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) MLA Rohit Pawar shared a video clip showing Kokate allegedly playing an online rummy game during Assembly proceedings. The clip triggered political backlash, with opposition leaders slamming Kokate’s “insensitivity” at a time when Maharashtra is grappling with severe agrarian distress.
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“Since the Nationalist faction in power cannot do anything without consulting the BJP, even with countless agricultural issues pending and eight farmers committing suicide daily in the state, the Agriculture Minister, with nothing else to do, seems to have time to play rummy,” MLA Rohit Panwar said in a post on X.
Kokate denied the allegations, claiming, “It was just for 10-15 seconds,” and said he was merely closing a pop-up, not playing a game. He also threatened legal action against those accusing him. However, a legislative probe found that Kokate had engaged with the game for 18 to 22 minutes, directly contradicting his defence, Rohit Pawar claimed.
This is not the first time Kokate has drawn criticism. He had earlier sparked controversy for comparing farmers to beggars and was previously convicted in a 1995 housing fraud case, which was later stayed.
Tensions around the controversy further escalated on July 20, when a violent clash broke out at a rest house in Latur. Members of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP allegedly assaulted Vijaykumar Ghadge, the state president of All India Chhava Sanghatna, after activists disrupted a press conference held by NCP’s Maharashtra unit president Sunil Tatkare. The protestors threw a deck of playing cards at the venue, demanding Kokate’s resignation over the viral video incident.
