Maharashtra minister sacked for playing 'rummy' in Assembly given Sports
What's the story
Maharashtra Minister Manikrao Kokate has been stripped of his agriculture portfolio after he was caught playing 'Rummy' during an Assembly session. He has been moved to the Sports and Youth Welfare Ministry. The incident came to light when Nationalist Congress Party MLA Rohit Pawar shared videos on X, showing Kokate engrossed in the game while proceedings were underway. In a late-night development on Thursday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar decided to relieve him from the post.
Twitter Post
Video shows him playing the card game
Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate's video of him playing Junglee Rummy, an online card game, on his phone in the Legislative Assembly proves how the BJP led state government is 'Gambling' with the lives of farmers.
— Clyde Crasto (@Clyde_Crasto) July 20, 2025
Farmers are committing suicide due to lack of… pic.twitter.com/9WZpwtvSsG
Defense stance
Kokate denied allegations of playing game
Kokate, who belongs to Ajit Pawar's faction of the NCP, defended himself, saying he was trying to turn off a notification on his phone. He denied playing a game during the session. However, opposition members argued that turning off a notification wouldn't take that long. "The agriculture portfolio wasn't simply swapped. This was a deliberate move after CM Fadnavis pushed for action," TOI reported, quoting a senior official.
Controversial remarks
Kokate's controversial tenure as Agriculture Minister
Kokate's eight-month tenure as Agriculture Minister was marred by controversy, including his recent statement comparing farmers to beggars. "Nowadays, even beggars do not take a single rupee. However, we gave crop insurance to farmers for one rupee. Some people misused this scheme," he had said. He had also spoken about how Ladki Bahin expenses were affecting schemes and poll promises of other departments. Dattatraya Bharane has replaced him as Agriculture Minister in the Maharashtra government.