Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate reacted on Tuesday after a video of him playing online rummy at the state assembly premises. Speaking to the media in Nagpur, Kotate said, this is conspiracy against him by the opposition parties and he will send legal notices to the "political parties for defaming."
A purported video of Kokate playing Junglee Rummy, a card game, online on his smartphone during the running Legislative Assembly monsoon session surfaced on social media on Sunday. The video of the minister was shared by the NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar on social media.
While sharing a video Pawar wrote on X, "NCP (led by Ajit Pawar), cannot do anything without consulting the BJP. And therefore, when scores of farm issues are pending and every day eight farmers are ending their lives in Maharashtra, the agriculture minister does not seem to have any work and is spending time playing rummy."
Opposition leaders' reactions fumed Kokate, who demanded an inquiry into the viral video. "I have nothing to hide. My account is open, and my mobile number is available to everyone. You can verify anything. I will fully cooperate with whichever inquiry officer is appointed," he told reporters.
"I have all the necessary documents and will make everything required for the inquiry available. This is clearly a conspiracy, and it must be exposed. That’s why I am demanding an inquiry. I will be sending legal notices to all political leaders in Maharashtra who are defaming me," Kokate said.
NCP-SP leader Rohit Pawar said in a post on X that an investigation should be conducted to determine whether he was playing cards or not. He argued that the minister should resign from his post. Kokate Saheb should show moral integrity and resign from the ministerial position. Most importantly, since the truth cannot be concealed, why wait for the next session to resign and make the farmers suffer?"
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had reacted to the purported viral video of Kokate playing rummy. Speaking at a press conference today, Kokate said: "That's right. I have not spoken to the chief minister on the issue yet. I didn't inform them about it and there was no inquiry. So it's natural for them to understand. The chief minister seems to have reacted by trusting the media. But I haven't done any of that kind of work. I didn't play rummy and it's not right to play. I have been in the Assembly for 25 years. So I know what to do and what not to do here, as well as all the laws and regulations."