As per a probe report, Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate was playing an online card game on his mobile phone in the Maharashtra legislature for 18 to 22 minutes, NCP (SP) MLA Rohit Pawar claimed on Wednesday, July 30. Kokate, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party led by deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, had claimed he was not playing a game but a notification for online rummy popped up on his screen for a few seconds and he skipped it.
"The agriculture minister was not playing cards for 42 seconds but for 18 to 22 minutes. This is the report of the state legislature which has been submitted to the CM as well as Deputy Chief Minister. Will the government clarify about this?" asked Rohit Pawar in a post on X.
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It was Rohit Pawar who had first shared on social media a video showing the minister `playing' a card game on mobile phone in the legislative council during the monsoon session that ended last week.
What action the Devendra Fadnavis-led government will take against the minister, Rohit Pawar asked in his latest post.If the government did not take action against Kokate, then what right it has to claim the legacy of (late Congress stalwart) Yashwantrao Chavan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said, in apparent swipes at Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar.