Maharashtra -Cabinet reshuffle: Manikrao Kokate, caught 'rummy', loses the agricultural ministry, gets new portfolio | Mint

Maharashtra and NCP MLA Manikrao Kokate was reportedly deprived of the Ministry of Agriculture and awarded new portfolios in a late-night cabinet reform on Thursday. Kokate has been moved from agriculture to the Department of Sport and Youth Welfare. He will also be in charge of the minority development and AuqAF departments, corresponding to a notice issued by the General Administration section (GAD) on Thursday night. Current Minister of Sports Minister Bharne will be the new Minister of Agriculture, according to the notice cited by the new agency PTI. Both Kokate and Bharne are MLAs of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Bharne is MLA from Indapur in the Pune district. Kokate, a Sinnar legislature in the Nashik district, found himself in hot water after a video of him played an online rummy game on his cellphone while sitting in the Legislative Council during the Monsoon session was shared on social media by NCP (SP) leaders Rohit Pawar and Jitendra AWhad. Manikrao Kokate later claimed that it was a ‘Solitaire game’ and that he was just trying to skip a downloaded game on his phone. “It’s a solitaire game, not rummy. Any of my colleagues should have downloaded it. I tried to see what was going on in the lower house. I didn’t play rummy. The opposition is trying to take the government down,” Kokate said. “I don’t even know what Rummy is,” he said. “Ten different types of ads arrive on YouTube … you have to watch it for 30 seconds and you can’t even skip it …”, he said. Maharashtra minister Manikrao Kokate also claimed that selective footage was shared on social media to blaspheme him. “When the Upper House of the State Legislature was adjourned, I pulled out my cellphone to check the business in the lower house and try to open YouTube,” he was quoted by the PTI news agency. “The downloaded game suddenly opened, and I skipped it. It was a matter of just 5 to 10 seconds; Why was the part not shown? ‘ He said while responding to the criticism he was facing. “The full video must come out. Only a short cut has been viral. This is a problem by the opposition, but their tactics will never succeed,” Kokate quoted by India today. He also had controversy for the alleged comparison of farmers with beggars a few months ago. Earlier this year, Dhananjay Mund, another NCP leader, had to resign from the Devendra Fadnavis-led ministry after his close assistant Walmik Karad was nominated as the first accused in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case.