Mumbai, Feb 21 Maharashtra Congress President Harshwardhan Vasantrao Sapkal on Friday demanded the immediate resignation of state Agriculture Minister Manikrao Kokate, who was convicted of committing fraud using fake documents to acquire two government quota flats.
“If the state government does not dismiss him it will amount to a serious lapse. This will prove that it is not being run on democratic principles,” said Sapkal, recalling the convention set by former Railway Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri for stepping down from office on moral grounds after a train accident.
“In our country, stepping down from office has been the democratic convention in case of allegations. In Kokate’s case, there is a conviction against him so there is no question of remaining in office,” he said, adding that Kokate has been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment.
The state Congress chief said the Agriculture Minister should have stepped down on his own and his membership to the Assembly should have been scrapped.
He hit out at the ruling BJP and its allies for adopting double standards as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, after his conviction in a defamation case and 2-year jail sentence, was evicted from his MP bungalow and his Lok Sabha membership was terminated but in Kokate’s case the state government is dragging its feet to dismiss him.
Sapkal also cited the example of former Congress Minister Sunil Kedar who was disqualified as a Maharashtra MLA following his conviction last year in a 2002 bank scam.
Asked about BSP chief Mayawati’s recent attack on the Congress after Rahul Gandhi called her party a ‘B-Team’ of the BJP, the Maharashtra Congress chief said, “Mayawati is fighting a battle for survival. She has a tie-up with the BJP and keeps venting her frustration on the Congress.”
On Thursday, the Nashik district court sentenced Agriculture Minister and NCP leader Manikrao Kokate and his brother Sunil to two years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 each in a case of embezzling flats provided under the Chief Minister's quota for using fake documents during 1995 and 1997. The two were later granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 15,000.
The court has also granted him 30 days to appeal in the Sessions Court. Kokate has indicated that he would approach the Bombay High Court against Nashik District Court’s verdict.
Kokate, from the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, was elected from the Sinnar Assembly seat situated in Nashik district.
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