Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
As farmers across Maharashtra battle failed sowing and rising debt due to erratic monsoon, agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate courted controversy after a video of him playing rummy inside the Assembly went viral.
Terming it a “shameful display of insensitivity,” leader of opposition Ambadas Danve on Sunday demanded Kokate’s resignation. “When farmers are forced to re-sow due to poor rainfall and fake seeds, Kokate is playing cards. Such a man has no place in the cabinet. Let him go home and play rummy,” Danve said, urging chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to act. Danve reminded the media of Kokate’s past remarks, including calling his ministry “like leading a barren village” and dismissing crop loss surveys after floods. “It appears there’s a compulsion behind keeping him in the cabinet,” he alleged.
On Aaditya-Fadnavis meeting:
Asked about Aaditya Thackeray and CM Fadnavis’ unexpected meet at a hotel, Danve said, “It wasn’t political. Aaditya was there for a birthday. We meet openly, not behind closed doors.