A political controversy erupted in Maharashtra after a video allegedly showing state minister Manikrao Kokate playing an online card game during a legislative council session surfaced online. Kokate has been divested of his agriculture portfolio and moved to sports ministry. Dattatray Vithoba Bharne has been appointed the new Agriculture Minister.
Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate has been removed from the agriculture portfolio and reassigned to the Ministry of Sports and Youth Welfare. Dattatray Vithoba Bharne has been appointed the new Agriculture Minister pic.twitter.com/gih2CKPZSi
— IANS (@ians_india) July 31, 2025
Earlier, reacting to speculation about his future in the Maharashtra cabinet, Kokate had stated that he had neither tendered his resignation nor been asked to quit by the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) or Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, news agency PTI reported.
Responding to questions about the incident, Kokate remarked, “I do not want to speak on this issue anymore. I will speak after the inquiry report (on the card game issue) is out.”
Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate has been appointed as the new Sports Minister of Maharashtra, while he has been removed from the Agriculture Ministry. pic.twitter.com/1V341WOyiz
— ANI (@ANI) July 31, 2025
The NCP minister, who has been at the centre of multiple controversies in recent months, denied the allegation that he was playing a game of cards during the session.
Kokate shared that he met Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar earlier this week in Mantralaya to present his side of the story. “I met Ajitdada on my own and clarified my stand. I had apologised to farmers recently during media interaction if their sentiments were hurt due to the card game controversy,” he said, as quoted by PTI.
Kokate reiterated that there was no pressure on him to resign. “Neither I offered to quit as a minister nor was I asked to step down by any leader of NCP, government or the chief minister,” he clarified.
Row Over “Beggar” Remark On Farmers
Apart from the card game controversy, Kokate drew further criticism for referring to the state government as a “beggar” while explaining his earlier comments on the Re 1 crop insurance scheme for farmers.
“Even a beggar does not take Re 1 in alms, but here we are giving crop insurance for Re 1. Even then, some people try to misuse it,” he had said, as quoted by PTI.
His remark drew displeasure from Chief Minister Fadnavis, prompting a direct call between the two. “The chief minister had expressed his displeasure over the beggar’s statement. I called him up and clarified my stand. I blame it on the lack of articulation,” Kokate explained.
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